From a vine nursery to Sardinia's reference winery
When the Piedmontese engineer Erminio Sella acquired fallow pasture land north of Alghero in 1899 together with the lawyer Edgardo Mosca, the plan was initially not viticultural: all of Europe was fighting against phylloxera, and the duo recognized the opportunity to build a nursery for phylloxera-resistant grafted vines on Sardinia's still untouched soils. With this, they supplied the continent's wine-growing regions with the raw material for reconstruction. It was not until 1903 that the first vineyards were planted on the I Piani estate and the historic wine cellar was built — the foundation on which Sella & Mosca still stands today. What began as an infrastructure project became the island's defining winery.
For decades, the estate remained in corporate hands before the Terra Moretti family took over the winery in 2016. Since then, CEO Francesca Moretti has been leading the fortunes, supported by cellar master Giovanni Pinna, a native Sardinian with a master's degree in oenology. The combination of entrepreneurial investment willingness and deep island knowledge gives the house its special character today.
Viticulture on one of Europe's largest estates
The I Piani winery is located about ten kilometers north of Alghero in the Nurra plain, a flat coastal landscape with sandy-loamy soils that naturally have high iron contents. Limestone and clay alternate with stony, nutrient-poor plots — a soil diversity that allows the estate to cultivate very different grape varieties on their respective suitable locations. The constant Mistral from the sea keeps the grapes dry and healthy; together with the dry Mediterranean climate, it creates conditions under which the avoidance of synthetic pesticides succeeds. All approximately 542 hectares of vineyard area are now ICEA-certified organically cultivated — the entire estate is thus considered one of the largest contiguous organic vineyards in Europe.
In the cellar, cellar master Pinna relies on minimal intervention: gentle grape processing, precise temperature control during fermentation, and aging of the red wines in high-quality wooden barrels made of Slavonian oak as well as barriques. In parallel, the estate maintains a modern facility for white wine production, which is designed for freshness and varietal typicity.
Sardinian character from Vermentino to Torbato
The Sella & Mosca assortment reads like a cross-section of Sardinia's autochthonous grape variety diversity. The Vermentino — in versions like La Cala and Ambat — stands for the bright, salty lightness of the island: citrus aromas, a hint of herbs, lively acidity, and the noticeable influence of the sea breeze in the finish. The Cannonau, Sardinia's most important red grape variety (genetically identical to the French Grenache), provides dark cherry aromas, herbal spice, and a tannin-accented backbone in the Riserva line that can handle aging. With the Marchese di Villamarina, the estate shows what Cabernet Sauvignon can achieve on Sardinian soil — an Alghero DOC Riserva with depth and structure, which identifies the winery as one of the pioneers of this grape variety on the island.
Special mention should be made of the Torbato: an almost vanished white wine variety that Sella & Mosca is the only winery worldwide to still vinify 100% varietally pure and thus saved from being forgotten. The Catore Alghero Torbato DOC combines citrus, white blossoms, and a characteristic salt minerality — a wine that simply would not exist without the estate's commitment.
