For Silvio Carta, a historic Sardinian winery and distillery, Vinitaly 2024 will go down in history as the edition of records, with a double win that confirms the success of its wines and spirits and the extraordinary professionalism of its leadership.
The company has indeed won the award for Best Italian White Wine at Vinitaly 2024 with the Vernaccia di Oristano DOC Riserva 2004, awarded by the prestigious 5StarWines – the Book guide with a score of 96/100. Additionally, Elio Carta, CEO, master distiller, and winemaker of Silvio Carta, was honored with the “Angelo Betti Award – for merit in Winegrowing.“
The latter recognition is an initiative aimed at valorizing not only excellence but also the typicality of the territories, and therefore requires the precious collaboration of the Regional Departments of Agriculture each year. It is awarded by each Italian region to the institutions or personalities who, through their professional or entrepreneurial activity, have most contributed to the qualitative progress of viticulture and winemaking production in their region and to the growth of the Italian wine world.
The Vernaccia di Oristano DOC Riserva 2004 has literally enchanted the panel of expert tasters. A success that brings the spotlight back to a wine that already won the award for “Best Italian Wine” at Vinitaly 2018. A milestone that rewards Silvio Carta’s philosophy, always devoted to enhancing the Vernaccia grape through a respectful approach to the territory and tradition. A wine obtained from one of the most important native grape varieties of the island, capable of offering unique emotions and telling the most authentic soul of Sardinia.
As Elio Carta emphasizes: “Producing wine is a passion. Producing Vernaccia di Oristano is an obstinacy. An unconditional love for a unique grape variety, for our history, and for our land, Sardinia. Winning the award for best Italian white wine of the year is a recognition for our company and our family. But also for the entire territory where the grape grows and for the entire island. A prize we want to dedicate to the stubbornness of my father, Silvio Carta, the founder of the company. To the professionalism of our employees and collaborators. To all the winemakers who produce and supply Vernaccia grapes. To Baratili San Pietro, which has never ceased to be the village of Vernaccia. To all the admirers of this wine.”
The reasons that led to the choice to award Elio Carta of the Silvio Carta company from Baratili San Pietro (OR) the “Angelo Betti Award – Meritous Figure of Winegrowing 2024” at Vinitaly are as follows:
“Elio Carta is the current head of the historic Silvio Carta Srl company, a family-run winery and distillery located on the western coast of Sardinia. The historic founder Silvio Carta was born in 1929 into a family of farmers in Baratili San Pietro, a small agricultural center located about 10 km from Oristano. In the early 1950s, he founded the eponymous company, dedicating himself to the traditional local winemaking production of Vernaccia di Oristano, a wine with an amber gold color that embodies nobility and generosity, which immediately captivates and conquers the palate. The skillful winemaking, the long rest in centuries-old barrels of Sardinian chestnut, and the careful and loving care have made this incredible wine an authentic pride of Sardinian oenology. It soon became the most sought-after wine in the region, and the municipality of Baratili San Pietro was discovered, and since then it has been renowned throughout the island and the world among the most appreciated oxidative wines by industry experts and lovers of good drinking. At the end of the seventies, there was a change in consumer lifestyle that led Silvio Carta to seize a new opportunity: to create the distillery and the liqueur factory for the production of liqueurs and spirits typical of the Sardinian land. Over time, his son Elio (now CEO) joined the founder and started the production of traditional liqueurs and high-quality spirits from a very simple idea, that of transforming the fruits of nature into products capable of representing Sardinia in the world. Each bottle produced is the story of an entire island. Silvio Carta’s company philosophy governing its productions is admirably summarized in the historic slogan: “Harmony of Nature.” The products are born from Sardinian tradition and deep respect for the territory. The qualities of botanicals, aromatic herbs, and spices used by the Silvio Carta company encompass all the scents and flavors of Sardinia, for a tasting experience unique of its kind. The precious combination of tradition, short supply chain of productions, and innovation deserve the identification in Elio Carta as the rightful recipient of this prestigious award.”
