Italy’s indigenous varieties hail from the Alps as well as the Mediterranean sea and the islands. These two varieties, Bovale Sardo and Bovale Grande come from Sardinia. The former has smaller berries and the latter larger ones. They are both said to be related to the Bobal grape of Spain. It is thought that they were brought over during the Kingdom of Two Sicilies.

For those who have never been to Sardinia, you have a real treat ahead.It is a gorgeous island with beautiful beaches, hiking and lunar landscapes. I was lucky enough to spend three weeks in Sardinia learning to sail and scuba dive, it was heavenly. The Sardinian cuisine is also very interesting and the wines are very noteworthy. Bovale is generally not made into a monovarietal wine, at least not that I have found.

These two grapes are used traditionally with other local varieties sometimes Carignano or Monica. They both make full bodied ruby red wines. Perhaps you have had them in one of the Argiolas wines, Korem, Turriga or Perdera. If you haven’t tried them yet, run to the nearest wine shop.

These wines are widely available in the US and are distributed by Winebow. I went to the Winebow tasting for a bit yesterday but didn’t have time to taste through too many wines. It was immense. I felt like a kid in a candy shop.