Campidano di Terralba (or simply Terralba) is an Italian wine DOC of western Sardinia, introduced in November 1975 and covering red and rose wines made predominantly from Bovale (Spain's Bobal) grapes. Its catchment area covers the western half of the Medio Campidano province and the southern third of Oristano province, stretching from Gonnosfanadiga in the south to Palmas Arborea in the north and Villanovaforru in the east to Arbus in the west. The Terralba of the DOC title is a district immediately south of Arborea and approximately ten miles south of Oristano on Sardinia's west coast.
Campidano di Terralba wines are made from 80% Bovale grapes, although the DOC production laws do not restrict whether this is Bovale Sardo or Bovale di Spagna (the local variant or Spanish Bobal in its original form). There is also a local, unofficial name for Bovale di Spagna: Bovale Grande. The remaining 20% of the wines may be made up with Pascale di Cagliari, Greco Nero (known locally as Greco Nieddu) or Monica, provided these varieties are already present within the Bovale vine rows and not blended in deliberately from other vineyards or blocks.
The wines are ruby red in color and have an intensely perfumed nose. The palate is typically fruit driven and backed up by substantial palate weight, even if the minimum required alcohol level is only 11.5 per cent alcohol by volume (in practice the wines rarely get this low). These inexpensive wines are exported to some countries around Europe (Belgium, Germany and the UK), but rarely make it out of Europe because of their low production levels and market profile.
