The coast of Villasimius and surroundings, located on the southeastern tip of Sardinia, is one of the most loved and celebrated seaside resorts on the island with dozens of large and welcoming beaches characterized by fine white sand and turquoise sea. All around a few towns and green hills that smell of the Mediterranean.

On these gentle slopes has been cultivated for centuries the vine from Cannonau, the vine – until proven otherwise – the oldest in the Mediterranean. To discover these 3200 years of history and to want to read it “in pink” came a manager-entrepreneur French, Jean-Paul Tréguer, accompanied by his wife Isabelle.

Jean-Paul and Isabelle have chosen Villasimius as their “buen retiro”. Fleeing from the hectic Paris they found in the village of Sarrabus the ideal place to live. “It was a stroke of lightning with the beautiful landscape – they explain -. But, much more important to us, we discovered a place where Sardinians are brave, hardworking, honest, kind, nice, and incredibly hospitable. We really feel at home.” In their villa, with the sea all around (“We are Bretons, the sea for us is like oxygen” they confess), they welcome everyone for lunch, an aperitif, a passionate discussion on marketing strategy and the creation of an international brand or a carefree chat. They open the doors of their house to us for a “reinforced aperitif” accompanied by their excellent wine.

Jean-Paul opens an iced bottle of their So Chic! Rosé and serves it to us in a large glass with a wide cup in the shape of a bud. The satin bottle recalls the typical freshness of rosé and (surprise!) the 100% cork is pink, thanks to a natural food paint. Tréguer & Tréguer has a huge difference compared to all the other wineries in Sardinia: it is the only one that is dedicated exclusively to still rosé wine. It does not produce red, white, bubbles, only rosé. “It will always be like this – jean-Paul specifies – throughout my professional life in the Marketing sector I have always preferred to do only one thing at a time and do it well. I wake up thinking about the rosé market, I have lunch thinking about rosé, I have dinner thinking about rosé, I fall asleep thinking about rosé”. We are the rosé specialists in Sardinia and we have the ambition to become the absolute reference of Sardinian rosé, to export it and compete with the famous rosé wines of Provence, the world leaders that I have always known very well”.

So Chic! is a 100% Cannonau di Capo Ferrato Doc, characterized by a bright pink color, a fruity and floral scent, and a savory and dry taste. The alcohol content, 12.5 °, allows you to drink it without interruption from aperitif to dessert.

We taste it with a platter of pecorino, sausage and peppery ham, slightly spicy artichokes in oil, guttiau bread and yellow and red tomatoes. So Chic! Rosé is a wine that accompanies and does not overpower food, which refreshes and does not dry the palate. We are pleasantly surprised by the versatility of her drink: the ice cream cake that Isabelle offers us is enhanced by its balanced aromatic bouquet.

And while So Chic! refreshes body and soul from a suffocating and humid libeccio overlooking the sea, we discover the story of this couple French remained “victim” of a lightning strike with Villasimius and Sardinia. “Life in Rosé”, the claim chosen by Isabelle and Jean Paul for their creature, is a philosophy of life, made of smiles, welcome, kindness, openness and sharing. After a life spent in the world of marketing at the highest levels – from the creation of the most important television advertising agency in the Alps (BIG Success) to collaborations with Remy Martin cognac with the creation of the famous black satin VSOP bottle and those with Krug Champagne and Rolls Royce – Jean Paul has chosen to devote himself to rosé wine, which has always been a great passion of his.

“We decided to make a great Rosé wine together with the extraordinary Sardinian winemakers and together with Sardinia – he tells us -. In Italy, rosé is not very widespread. And it is a paradox because Italy is the second exporting country of rosé wines in the world. Strange, but things change quickly! In France, from May to October, almost only rosé is drunk. Compared to white and red wines, still, rosés have a dizzying growth in the world because they are very popular in many countries. It is the only wine that goes well with raw, fish, meat, pizza, pasta, exotic cuisine, summer salads, and many other dishes. After studying Sardinian wines and Cannonau we realized that in the territory of Castiadas-Costa Rei-Villasimius, there is a huge space and there is an ideal land to work a rosé wine of excellence, with vines that for millennia have not feared the difficult weather conditions expected in the future with the “Global Warming”.

Because perhaps, as Jean-Paul concludes, “Cannonau is not afraid of anything, neither of heat, nor of competition from other vines. It is a miracle of Sardinian nature”.

Una pasticceria dove ogni dolce è pensato per essere inclusivo, sostenibile e sorprendentemente buono. È questo il cuore di Sienda, la prima pasticceria totalmente vegetale della Sardegna, nata a Cagliari dalla visione e dall’impegno di Anna Laura Caboni, giovane pasticciera cagliaritana, vegana da oltre 12 anni per scelta etica.

Foto di Natalia Ghiani

“Il mio concetto è che la pasticceria debba essere per tutti, ma anche e soprattutto buona! E purtroppo ancora manca la ricerca in questa direzione”, ci racconta. Anna Laura ha alle spalle studi classici e in design: “Mi sono accorta che, nonostante la mia formazione, tornavo sempre alla pasticceria, era come un filo rosso. Così ho deciso di approfondire: ho studiato, sperimentato, e poi sono andata a Milano per un anno a confrontarmi con una realtà più avanzata, affinando la mia tecnica”.

Il risultato è Sienda, nome che in sardo logudorese significa ricchezza, e che richiama direttamente le radici sarde della sua fondatrice. Il logo, infatti, rappresenta una ghianda, simbolo della nostra isola e delle sue risorse naturali, tra cui le querce. “Ho voluto costruire qualcosa che rispettasse la tradizione sarda, ma utilizzando ingredienti nuovi, tutti vegetali, perché l’etica è parte integrante del mio progetto”, spiega Anna Laura.

Anna Laura Caboni

A differenza di molte proposte vegane standardizzate, Sienda nasce per offrire un’esperienza di gusto autentica, che non fa rimpiangere la pasticceria classica. “Non trovavo mai quella sensazione di voler tornare in un posto perché era davvero buono”, racconta. “La mia è una proposta diversa, che lavora sulla qualità degli ingredienti, sulle basi realizzate con frutta secca, che contiene oli naturali ottimi dal punto di vista nutrizionale”.

Tra le sue creazioni, anche i bignè senza uova: una prima assoluta in Sardegna nel panorama della pasticceria vegetale. “Siamo la prima realtà a proporli completamente vegetali, ed è una soddisfazione enorme. Quando un bambino allergico da poco mi ha detto “grazie” perché finalmente può mangiare un dolce come gli altri, capisco che sto andando nella direzione giusta”.

Foto di Natalia Ghiani

Il nome completo è Siènda Boutique Pâtisserie, a sottolineare la dimensione raccolta e curata del laboratorio. “È una piccola pasticceria e il design richiama quello di una boutique: vogliamo offrire il comfort di un negozio in cui si sceglie con cura”, spiega Anna Laura. “Essendo una pasticceria da asporto, progettiamo insieme ai clienti catering e ordini su misura: l’idea è creare un’esperienza intima, personalizzata e speciale”.

Siènda Boutique Pâtisserie si trova a Cagliari, in via Tola 3B.