Monica di Cagliari DOC is a red wine made with the Monica grape on the Italian island of Sardinia (Sardegna’). The DOC was granted in 1972. 

Terroir: The vineyards are mainly in Cagliari province, as well as in several communes in Oristano province. See Sardinia south, Cagliari’s Campidano and Sulcis.

Wine style: The wine is almost invariably sweet (‘dolce naturale’), though a dry (‘secco’) is permitted. It takes on an orange hue with ageing, though only the fortified ‘liquoroso riserva’ style is suited to long ageing (Burton Anderson, 1990, p294).

Bibliography

Burton Anderson, The Wine Atlas of Italy (Mitchell Beazley, London, 1990).

David Gleave, The Wines of Italy (Salamander Books, London, 1989).

Dr Ian D’Agata, Native Wine Grapes of Italy (University of California Press, 2014).

Nicolas Belfrage MW, Life Beyond Lambrusco (Sidgwick & Jackson, 1985). 

Nicolas Belfrage MW, From Barolo to Valpolicella—The Wines of Northern Italy (Faber & Faber, 1999).

Nicolas Belfrage MW, From Brunello to Zibibbo–The Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy (2nd edition, London, 2003).

Oxford Companion to Wine 4th edition ed. Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW (Oxford University Press, 2015).