Barbagia foodie experience

Welcome to Barbagia, a land of centuries-old traditions and populations, the perfect background for discovering Sardinian flavours.

In Aritzo, in the heart of Barbagia, you will visit a Barbagia sheepfold where you will be shown the entire production process of the various types of cheese and ricotta according to traditional techniques. At the end you will taste delicious dairy products.

After that you will move shortly to Tonara, a small town known for the artisanal production of nougat. Here you can watch the making of the traditional dessert and take part in a tasting with the possibility to buy the typical products. Furthermore, for those who want to, there is the possibility of visiting the workshop of the craftsman who makes Sardinian cowbells by hand following an art and ancient techniques that have been handed down for generations. The cowbells for cows, sheep, hunting dogs have different shapes and sizes and each of them has a different sound which makes them unique pieces.

The second day is entirely dedicated to the discovery of the typical wine of this area, the Mandrolisai.

Mandrolisai is an area with a strong winemaking tradition whose climate is characterized by little rain and long summers which guarantee perfect ripening of the grapes. The soil is characterized by granite sands and the combination of all these elements make its wines special. These are identified by the denomination “Mandrolisai DOC” reserved for red and rosé wines produced with grapes from local vineyards. Several wineries in the area offer the opportunity to learn about the winemaking traditions of Mandrolisai by taking a wine tour in their vineyards. The vineyards of Atzara, Meanasardo and Sorgono are among the most important in the area and therefore have obtained an important recognition at national level by becoming part of the list of “historical rural landscapes” of Italy. Each town has its own particularities and you can choose which winery to visit and combine it with a visit to an archaeological site nearby.

In Sorgono it is possible to visit the Cantina Sociale del Mandrolisai and taste its wines. Together with this, a guided visit to the archaeological park of Biru’ and Concas (the Sardinian Stonehenge) a megalithic complex with a concentration of menhirs from the Mediterranean, dating back to about five thousand years ago. Near the menhir park it is also possible to visit the rural sanctuary of San Mauro, a magnificent example of architectural eclecticism surrounded by “muristenes” accommodation for pilgrims, dating back to 1200 and founded by Benedictine monks.

In Meanasardo you can visit the vineyard which rises near the Noltza nuraghe, an important archaeological site which holds the secrets of a millenary landscape. In the Fulghesu cellar you can taste the wines of the homonymous cellar, in particular the Cannonau.

In Atzara, another important center of the Mandrolisai, several wineries offer visits to the vineyards and tasting of red and white wines. In the early 1900s Atzara was an important meeting point for artists from Spain (costumbrists) fascinated by aspects of the local traditional culture and important island painters. Interesting works are collected in the art gallery dedicated to the Iberian painter Antonio Ortiz Echague.