Perda Rubia was born in 1949 from an idea of comm. Mario Mereu who, among the first in Sardinia, understood the potentialities of the traditional Cannonau vine, cultivated in the territory of Ogliastra since ancient times. Perda Rubia wine, produced in the historical winery of Cardedu, both with its own grapes and with grapes brought by local farmers, is rapidly appreciated outside the island's borders as well, conquering the international limelight.
Renato Mereu, Mario's son, carried on the family business by planting new vineyards in 1971 with the application of a series of technical innovations in cultivation which will be the company's trademark since then. Perda Rubia, in fact, the only one of its kind, is now produced "in purity" from single vineyard Cannonau on "piede franco", therefore not grafted on American vine. In 2014, the baton passed to the third generation of the Mereu family, which began an important work of renewal and relaunch by introducing the new label Naniha, with the aim of presenting the Cannonau "in purity" on new international markets, while respecting the traditional methods of processing, handed down over seventy years of activity. Today the company has about 600 hectares of land, all conducted organically, of which 20 hectares are devoted to vineyards and the remainder to the activities of olive growing, forestry and cultivation of ancient grains. The company logo, present in all products, is the evolution of the historical wine label Perda Rubia which, reworked and stylized, recalls the design of an ancient Sardinian fabric, owned by the family for a long time. I wanted to introduce you to this winery because it was a stroke of lightning for us! Tasting its wines is like being "struck by lightning on the road to Damascus". It is a real wine, it is dynamic matter. A wine that does not make small wood, that comes from organic farming, that uses native yeasts and does not make clarifications. No tricks, no ploys. The vines are free-range, confirming the idea of a Canonau of other times, ancient. In short, it is the peasant wine par excellence, the wine of a tavern outside the city. In its best sense. It was the first winery (in 1949) to focus on Canonau (note with an n) in purity, when experts believed that it was a cutting grape, good only to increase the alcohol content of weak wines. In short, wines to be tried and quickly put in the cellar because they have only one fault: the production is scarce and it is hard to find in the "Continent". Prosit!
by Giuseppe De Luca on January 24.2021
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