A Guide To Visiting Sella E Mosca Winery, Alghero

If you are traveling to Alghero and want to do a wine tasting experience in Sardinia during your trip, consider visiting Cantine Sella e Mosca (also known as Tenute Sella e Mosca or Tenute Sella & Mosca). Sella e Mosca wines are extremely popular in Sardinia, and a synonym of quality, and their winery is a fantastic place to visit!

Sella e Mosca is one of the most important Sardinian wineries, and the largest wine producer on the island. It produces several wines with the most famous endemic grapes, and many other wines with less famous varietals.

Sella e Mosca Winery and its vineyards are located north of Alghero, in an area called “i Piani”, and the headquarters immersed in the countryside. The property there is massive – 520 hectares wide, but the winery also owns other two vineyards, one in Gallura and the other one in the Sulcis area.

I visited the Cantine Sella e Mosca (that’s the name in Italian) during a recent trip to Alghero and loved the experience, and the wines (which as I said I already knew) and thought I’d share my experience to raise your interest. I am sure you will want to visit by the time you are done reading this post.

Table of Contents

A Short History Of Sella E Mosca Winery

Sella e Mosca Winery was founded in 1899 by two young men from Piemonte, Erminio Sella, who was an enginner, and Edgardo Mosca, who was a lawyer. They reclaimed a broad area that was used as a pasture and turned it into a profitable business.

The reclaiming operations, despite going smoothly for the most part, had to be adjusted because of the finding of a now famous pre-nuragic necropolis, Anghelu Ruju (Anghelu Arrubiu in Sardinia), which still falls inside the property’s area and even gives name to one of their most famous wines.

The winery’s founders both loved Ancient Egypt and decided to include references to this culture in their company. That’s why Tenute Sella e Mosca’s logo comes from a drawing of some Egyptian workers making wine.

With time, the Sella e Mosca Winery grew to be the largest in Sardinia and one of the largest in Europe, and they make some of the most delicious wines in Sardinia. Its wines are now exported around the world so you may come across them in the best wine shops and on the menu of the best restaurants.

Sella e Mosca Winery was acquired by the Campari Group in 2002. In 2016, it was further acquired by Terra Moretti.

The Best Wines At Cantine Sella E Mosca

Sella e Mosca wines are produced with both Sardinian varietals and international ones. You will find bottles of wines that are made with 100% Sardinian grapes, and others that are a perfect blend of various varietals.

I have tried many of them – both during wine tasting experience and at home (my dad is a fan of their Torbato, and a bottle is never missing during a family celebration) or in restaurants.

Among the many wines that Tenute Sella e Mosca produce, these are my favorite ones and some of their best-sellers:

Torbato Terre Bianche Cuvée 161

Sella e Mosca make several kinds of Torbato wines, but Terre Bianche Cuvée 161 is the my favorite among them and the one they take most pride in. This is a rather complex, structured wine. It’s fermented in barriques, it has a straw yellow color and you will find a fragrance of Mediterranean bush and a slightly mineral and almost salty taste.

Terre Bianche Cuvée 161 is the perfect pairing for fish and seafood-based dishes (especially fried!) thanks to its delicate flavor.

Sella e Mosca also makes a sparkling Torbato Brut and Torbato Rosé Brut, which are perfect aperitif wines (I much prefer them to prosecco!). I tried the Rosé Torbato very recently during a family meal and loved it. It’s a blend of Torbato and other Sardinian varietals.

Vermentino Monteoro

Tenute Sella e Mosca owns Vermentino vineyards in the Gallura region of northeastern Sardinia, near Monte Limbara. Here, the terrain is rich in granite and the weather is mostly warm, but with significant drops in temperatures between day and night during the summer months.

Monteoro is a Vermentino DOC wine. It has an intense yellow color and scents of aromatic herbs and Mediterranean bush. It is the perfect pairing with cheese and seafood dishes like risotto.

Cannonau Dimonios

Cannonau is one of the best known varietals of Sardinian wines. Sella e Mosca Winery produces a few different Cannonau wines, but the best one by far is Sella e Mosca Dimonios Cannonau di Sardegna DOC Riserva.

The name comes from the hymn of the Brigata Sassari. This unit of the Italian army was found in 1915 and is the only one in the country that is entirely composed of people coming from Sardinia. Their hymn is almost a national anthem in Sardinia (my dad uses it as his phone’s ringtone!).

Much like the Brigata Sassari, Sella e Mosca Dimonios is a purely Sardinian wine. It has an intense ruby color, and a scent of Mediterranean bush and berries. This strong wine is a perfect pairing for meat dishes and mature pecorino cheese.

Anghelu Ruju

Anghelu Ruju is an exclusive type of Cannonau produced by Sella e Mosca only, with a very particular making process. The grapes are put on frames made of reeds raised from the ground and withered under the sun for 15 to 20 day. The frames are covered every night – just in case the weather turns for the worst. The wine is then fortified matured in special special barrels.

The name is a reference to the necropolis – Anghelu Ruju – found in 1903 right among Sella e Mosca vineyards.

Anghelu Ruju is mostly a meditation wine, and it is very sweet, with an intense scent of tobacco and cacao. It’s a wine you can pair with various kinds of cheese as well as chocolate.

Marchese di Villamarina

I am a fan of red wines mostly, so the Marchese di Villamarina is by far my favorite of Sella e Mosca wines. In fact, it’s one of the wines Sella e Mosca is most proud about, and it’s easy to see (or taste!) why!

Marchese di Villa Marina is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon. The grapes are harvested in Sardinia, and are fermented with their skin. The wine is then moved to barriques where it matures for 18 months, and then in bottles for another 12 months before being put on the shelf.

Like any Cabernet Sauvignon , this wine can be paired with any type of meat, from steaks to game, and has a strong, firm flavor or red berries, tobacco and spice.

Its name comes from the area where the grapes are farmed, nearby an old noble’s villa in the Alghero countryside and inside the Tenute Sella e Mosca, which has now become a fantastic small boutique hotel that welcomes guests visiting the area.

The Marras Collection

Antonio Marras is one of the most famous Italian designers, and he is from Alghero. I am a massive fan of his style, which always manages to create an eclectic look by pairing unique fabrics with innovative design while at the same time respecting Sardinia and its traditions.

I was excited to know he paired with Sella e Mosca Winery, for whom he designed some new labels for four new Sella e Mosca wines produced with grapes from the most representative vineyards.

Marras created a set of characters for every product, each with its own story.

Among the four Marras collection wines there’s Mustazzo, a Cannonau wine where the grapes come from Mamoiada, a Sardinian village located at 600 meters (1968.5 feet) above sea level, where the strong changes in temperatures between day and night allow the centenarian vineyards to produce grapes that give a very tannic, fruity wine.

For Mustazzo, Marras designed a typical-Sardinian looking man with a dark mustache.

Another wine I recommend trying among the ones in the Marras collection is Sella e Mosca’s Ambat, a Vermentino wine. In this case, the wine is produced with grapes that come from Sella e Mosca’s properties near Alghero – more specifically those that are most exposed to the mistral winds and to the salts and minerals coming from the sea.

For this bottle Antonio Marras created two twins meant to be Alghero sailors, and experts about the winds of the area, the same that blow on the vineyards and grapevines used to produce this wine.

Visiting Sella E Mosca

Sella e Mosca Winery tours and wine tasting experiences

One of the best ways of getting to know Sella e Mosca Winery is to join a tour of its vineyards, which ends with a wine tasting session in the cellar or in the beautiful patio just outside.

Tours are available every day at either 11:00 am or 3:00 pm, depending on the day. You can have a tour in Italian or English. Reservations are needed – I recommend booking at least a week in advance, more in the peak season. You can book your wine tasting experience directly via the official website or by sending an email to [email protected].

Most tours last between two and three hours and include a visit of the museum, a visit of the cellar and a selection of wines to taste (the number of tastings and the wines you get to taste depends on the selection you make).

There is a shorter tour (the Enjoy Oscarì) that only lasts 30 minutes as it just goes to the cellar and includes the tasting of only one wine.

The price of tours and wine tasting experiences at Sella e Mosca Winery ranges between €13 and €50, depending on what you pick and how many wine tastings it includes. When I visited, I opted for the Territorio tour, which also includes a walk in the vineyards. Keep in mind that you can always opt to ask for an extra glass during the wine tasting!

If you are only interested in wine tasting, you can visit Sella e Mosca Winery every day from 10:00 am to 6:00 or 8:00 pm, depending on the season. You will need to book your visit in advance by sending an email to [email protected].

The Museum

The winery also has a small museum you can visit as part of the tour. The museum is divided into two main exhibits: one that focuses on archeology, and one that focuses on history.

The archeological exhibit is entirely dedicated to the Anghelu Ruju necropolis, which when discovered was entirely located within the Sella e Mosca estate, which subsequently donated it to the municipality of Alghero.

The exhibit consists of photos and copies of objects found during the excavations of the area – the originals are kept in the Museo Sanna of Sassari and the Archeology Museum of Cagliari.

The historical exhibit focuses on the history of the estate since its foundation in 1899. Through the photos in the exhibit you get the idea of the amount of work that was needed to make this a profitable and successful business. Through its history, Sella e Mosca had to work to quench and temper the grounds, or to fight the filose parasite that damages the vineyards.

The exhibits includes antique machinery and instruments used for the production of wine.

The Madonna dell’Uva Church

Inside the Sella e Mosca estate in I Piani of Alghero there used to be the houses of the founders and of the people working there. It was like a small village, complete with a school that also hosted religious services until 1957.

In 1955, Don Francesco Manunta became the chaplain of the estate, where he remained until 1965. Of course, as soon as he took service he demanded that a church was built and for this reason there’s a small church, dedicated to the Madonna dell’Uva (Our Lady of the Grapes), which was built inaugurated in 1957.

Right outside the church, almost hidden among the vegetation, there is a statue representing the Madonna and Child sculpted in 1992 by Sardinia’s most famous sculptor Pinuccio Sciola.

The Wine Shop

Needless to say, you should take the chance of buying a bottle or two of Sella e Mosca wine when visiting the estate. You can even have them delivered directly to your home address if you prefer. They surely make for a nice present and one of the best souvenirs from Sardinia.

Practical Information

How to get to the Tenute Sella & Mosca

The Tenute Sella & Mosca are just 10.8 km (6.7 miles) from Alghero, not far from Alghero Fertilia Airport. Like many other places in the area, they are best reached by car. They are easy to visit on day trips from Alghero.

To get there, you just need to follow State Road SP 42 and the road signs pointing there, and you will be at the winery in about fifteen minutes. It’s literally a few hundred meters away from Anghelu Ruju necropolis, which you can visit immediately before or after going to the winery.

Sleeping at Sella e Mosca

There are many great accommodation options in Alghero, but for a real special experience you could consider sleeping in Casa Villamarina, a gorgeous boutique hotel located right within the Sella e Mosca estate and by the wine cellar.

Casa Villamarina has just four rooms. They are comfortable, spacious and cozy, located in a beautiful setting overlooking the vineyards, and a stay here is granted to leave a long-lasting memory. A scrumptious breakfast is included in the price.

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