I love the licorice and herbal aromas here, alongside chocolate cherries and plums. Hints of vanilla and praline, too. It’s creamy, lightly chewy and full-bodied, with berry-soaked tannins and a long and deliciously mellow finish. Pulls you back for more. Drink or hold.

Always a formidable wine, the 2014 Carignano del Sulcis Superiore Terre Brune shows its pride and pedigree despite the difficulties you might associate with this vintage (especially with mainland wines, but less so with island wines). This wine represents a historic blend of 95% Carignano del Sulcis and 5% Bovaleddu grapes for good measure. Bovaleddu is another name for Bovale, and the variety comes in two clones: one with large berries and one with tight, smaller berries. This wine immediately paints a Sardinian landscape for you, with aromas that recall the native myrtle (mirto) plants that grow freely on the island and softer tones of scorched island earth and even a veiling of sea salt that reminds you of its littoral Mediterranean identity. The wine spends 20 long months in new oak. Some 100,000 bottles were made. This expression offers an elegant, full-weight approach with a slightly shorter and thinner finish in this cool and soggy vintage. It should be interesting to see how the wine fleshes out with more bottle aging.

The 2013 Carignano del Sulcis Superiore Terre Brune (95% Carignano and 5% Bovaleddu) is a distinctive and beautifully intense red wine. The aromas are bright and vertical in this balanced vintage, to the point of being penetrating and pungent (in a positive way). It offers compelling aromas of candied cherry, kirsch and dark plum. Spice, tar and leather are introduced with seamless integration. It sees 18 months of oak. The wine is firm and lasting in terms of mouthfeel, but its texture is never too thick or heavy. This is one one of the highest expressions of Sardinian vinous elegance. It should easily age over the next decade. Some 90,000 bottles were produced.

The 2009 Carignano del Sulcis Superiore Terre Brune delivers one of the best incarnations of this landmark wine from Sardinia. A small percentage of Bovaleddu grapes are added to this rich and succulent Carignano. Terre Brune is an extremely vintage sensitive wine that can taste gritty or rustic in challenging years. But this 2009 expression is remarkably smooth and supple with long freshness and fruit ripeness to add momentum. The wine has only just started its bottle evolution, so you can hold it for five years or more.