Emerging Winery Award according to Vini d'Italia 2022 guide: Bentu Luna

Valorise the old alberello vineyards, revive a land that has always been dedicated to viticulture, economically and socially develop the territory and all its peculiarities through quality wine. There is this and much more at the core of the Bentu Luna project, Gabriele Moratti's winery (the Moratti family already owns Castello di Cigognola winery in the Oltrepò Pavese) and properly managed by Gian Matteo Baldi, who believes and has believed for some time in the potential and development of viticulture in the Sardinian hinterland.

Emerging Winery: Bentu Luna

Located in Neoneli, a small village in the heart of Sardinia, in the province of Oristano. Not far from Mandrolisai – great value and much appreciated DOC – an untouched high hill and mountain viticulture area, where (fortunately) the presence of old rows is still high. Vineyards, however, risk being abandoned if not supported by serious and far-sighted projects like this one, capable of rendering the right (economic and social) value to the land itself. It is on these assumptions that Bentu Luna bottles various labels (four red wines and one white, for now) of the highest level because they are able to best represent these areas. "The result is outside the usual known for Sardinia" explains Gian Matteo Baldi, CEO of Bentu Luna "We are dealing with very elegant wines, with great drinking pleasure, little relevance of alcohol to the taste, agile but with a great depth and persistence."

The Bentu Luna style

Absolutely contemporary wines, we may add, capable of capturing the best aspects of past wine making, but of arriving in the bottle full of charm and authenticity. Furthermore products of a respectful and polite production in the cellar that takes into account the decades of life of the plants and Nature's timetables. "The valorisation of the grapes obtained from these old vines passes through drop by drop infusion of their juice" continues Baldi "The wine we obtain, then, is not "doctored" with oenological products, filtered or modified. Plus, the materials chosen for aging are warm: concrete, terracotta, oak. The role of the latter, in particular, is functional to the natural growth of wines, it must not be invasive or overwhelming. Each choice is designed to find the original and authentic expression of the grapes in the glass." Fermentations are spontaneous, therefore no steel but concrete tanks, then used oak and bottle.

Bentu Luna's wines in the Vini d'Italia 2022 guide

Four wines were reviewed in the 2022 Guide: Unda, a Vermentino di Sardegna '20, the Mandrolisai Mari '19, Susu '19 from a single vineyard of cannonau, and Sobi '19, also from a single vineyard where many different traditional varieties coexist. The latter two reached the final tastings and the Sobi, everyone agreed, climbed on the top step of the podium in the very year of the winery's debut. The tasting of Be Luna has been postponed to next year, again in 2019: it is the wine that most pays homage to biodiversity in the vineyard, thanks to rows planted in 1905 in Atzara, in the province of Nuoro. 1,300 bottles produced, a blend of cannonau, muristellu (bovale sardo) and monica. The wine still needs a few months in the bottle to lend flavours and aromas that the ancient vineyard of over a century has been able to preserve.

Sobi '19 wins the Tre Bicchieri title in the Vini d'Italia 2022 guide

Sobi '19 is a wine that immediately excites. Obtained from an old vineyard where many different varieties alternate, cultivated with alberello training system, as was common in these parts in the past. The nose is explosive, complex, particular. It is not only a classic fruity scent, typical of young reds, that stands out right away. The Mediterranean scrub opens with notes of myrtle, cystus and strawberry tree to dominate the sense of smell. Then there are sensations of undergrowth, wet soil and bark, always very clean, elegant and of great persistence. The mouth completes the tasting. The wine is creamy, enveloping, like a great southern wine should be, but the drinkability is never weighed down by matter; the alcohol is perfectly dosed because it's balanced by a vein of freshness that marks the sip and by a final flavour making the wine very long, invigorating and possessing incredible vitality.

Bentu Luna - Neoneli (OR) - via Meriaga, 1 –  347 0919610