Est. 2002 
4 wines 
Walk-ins welcome 
Wine area
Wine area
Denominations Produced
Wine areaDOC
Agricola Punica
Agricola Punica is a wine estate at Santadi, in the Sulcis corner of southwest Sardinia. Two producers founded it in 2002: Tenuta San Guido, the Tuscan estate behind Sassicaia, and the Cantina di Santadi cooperative. Giacomo Tachis, the winemaker who shaped Sassicaia, drew the blueprint. The aim was to prove that Carignano, the island's own red grape, belongs among Italy's serious reds. Two reds carry that flag, Barrua and Montessu. Both grow on sandy soil close to the sea.
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Sardinia
- Est. 2002
- 4 wines
- Walk-ins welcome
Wines from Agricola Punica
About Agricola Punica
Agricola Punica began in 2002 as a joint project between two cellars. Tenuta San Guido, the Tuscan estate behind Sassicaia, teamed up with Cantina di Santadi, the local cooperative that made Terre Brune. Giacomo Tachis, the winemaker who shaped Sassicaia and Solaia, drew the blueprint. Antonello Pilloni led the Santadi side. Sebastiano Rosa runs the cellar today.
The name looks much further back. It salutes the Phoenicians of Carthage, who ruled this corner of Sardinia from the ninth century BCE. They were the first to plant vines on the Sulcis sand. The founders wanted to give the local Carignano grape the serious red-wine cellar it had rarely had.
The land covers 170 hectares, about 240 football pitches, split between two farms near Santadi: Barrua and Narcao. Reds take 65 of them, trained on wires. Carignano sits at the heart, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah beside it. Vermentino and Chardonnay share another five. The soil is sandy and rich in limestone, and the breeze off the sea cools the rows. Tachis chose this ground because Carignano ripens here without losing its acidity.
Three wines leave the cellar. All carry the island-wide Isola dei Nuraghi label, an IGT. Barrua is the flagship red: Carignano first, backed by Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Its first vintage, 2002, set the house style: deep ruby, sour cherry and liquorice, built to age. Montessu joined in 2005. It blends five grapes in all and drinks well sooner. Samas is the white, from Vermentino and Chardonnay, its grapes kept cold as they soak to guard the fresh fruit.
Why that label and not the local DOC? The vines sit inside the Carignano del Sulcis zone, but the wider badge lets the cellar add the French grapes to the Carignano core. That blend was Tachis's idea, and it is the heart of the project.
More than twenty years on, the bet has paid off. Barrua and Montessu appear on wine lists from Cagliari to London. Critics now read Isola dei Nuraghi as a credible flag for ambitious red blends from Sardinia.
Plate I · SARDINIA
Agricola Punica on the Sardinia wine atlas
Winery
Agricola Punica
Santadi, Carbonia-Iglesias
Denominations Produced
Wine areaDOC
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
Experiences at Agricola Punica
The estate lists nothing you can book online, and whether it receives visitors is not confirmed. Its phone number and email are in Practical info. A call is the reliable route here.
Group tours that travel the Sardinia countrysideThese tours stop at other producers in the area. None of them includes a visit to Agricola Punica.
Half-Day Small-Group Wine Experience with Wine Expert from Cagliari
4 hours
From €100 per person
Book this tour
Booking viaViator
Archeology, visit to a vineyard and wine and pecorino cheese tasting
4 hours
From €100 per person
Book this tour
Booking viaViator
Cagliari: natural cultural walking, food wine tasting experience
2 hours 30 minutes
From €90 per person
Book this tour
Booking viaViator
Not seeing the estate you want? Estates without an online listing are reachable directly, and their phone and email are in Plan your visit.
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Plan your visit
Località Barrua, 09010 Santadi, Carbonia-Iglesias (Sardegna)
What Agricola Punica makes
Agricola Punica's current bottle selection is easiest to understand through Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignano.
Key grapes
Common questions
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Agricola Punica is in Santadi, in the Basso Sulcis area of southwest Sardinia, in the province of Carbonia-Iglesias. The property covers 170 hectares, about 420 acres, across two farms named Barrua and Narcao. The white sand coast at Porto Pino is a short drive away.
Get in touch
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