About Us

The concept: “IMPROMPTU” is a concept resulting from the collaboration between Sommelier/Winemaker Giuseppe Cossu and the oenological and logistical consulting of Oenologists Angelo and Tonino Arcadu, a father and son team of the iconic Gostolai winery based in Oliena (Nu). 

Focusing exclusively on Sardinian native varietals, it consists of a limited series of wines that aim to express their unique identity linked both to the cultivar's peculiar traits and to the territory where they grow endemically. Avoiding artificial lab practices or additions of elements that are not already present in the grapes, these hand-crafted artisanal wines come strictly from single vineyards that are vinified and bottled separately to protect and highlight their unique peculiarities 

 
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Me, my background and my obsessions:  I believe my first harvest was when I was 4 at my grandfather's vineyard. I made wine since I was a teenager with my father, I took it as a chore... I Had a predisposition to music, I dropped-out from art school, worked as a carpenter and briefly as a mechanic. I moved to Rome in 1987 and worked in hospitality, studied drums and fell in love (also) with Jazz. I moved to California in 95, played a bit of drums but had to stop to start (and failed at it...) a family. I managed Fine Dining restaurants then worked in wine imports and distribution. In 2012 I met and fell in love with Laura, started a new family and started producing music again. In 2017 we move out of L.A. to the Central Valley in rural California. I stop working in the wine industry to focus on raising our two kids. I keep composing and producing music.

A rainy morning my daughter Magda at only 3 decides to make a chalk drawing in a tile. According to her, it is the portrait of our Aussie Shepard "Jack", if he was a "human"... I took a picture of it before the rain washed it away, thinking one day I would use it for something... In 2019 while in Sardinia during fall I decide to make a wine, two barrels. It's late September, I call my friend Tonino Arcadu of Gostolai and ask if it's not too late to look for some Cannonau grapes to make a couple of barrels of wine for our own consumption. I was lucky! We come back to California, we move to our current home in Monterey. Covid ruins the party, for 2 years we won't be able to go back and make wine. In 2020 I publish a totally improvised jazz-rock album titled "Impromptu" (click here to listen to a cut inspired by my struggles when traveling back to Sardinia...). The cover of the album is my daughter's sketch of "Jack, as a human". In 2022 I make wine again, the plan was to make only 2 barrels, but I strike gold and find another vineyard where I can source enough to make 3 more barrels. In 2023 is time to bottle and label the 2022 wines (the 2019 is bottled but not labelled). I don't have a label yet, what is it gonna be called and look like? I remembered that for a long time I was looking to bridge, to connect my two big passions which are Music and Wine. I already had a name and concept in front of me. My wines are as "Impromptu" as my music, it makes perfect sense to name both "Impromptu" since the media might be different but the source and approach is the same. 

So there you have it! 

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My qualifications:  "Winemaker Certification" with the University of California-Davis (U.C. Davis); A.I.S. Sommelier Diploma; W.S.E.T. 3rd Level "Advanced"; Certified Specialist of Wine with S.W.E. ; Three decades in the Wine Industry field in California.

"Impromptu" consists of a limited series of artisanal wines, sourced from high-altitude vineyards in Barbagia, in the north of Sardinia, as well as from the south of the island, focusing on native varieties. Vineyards that make use of regenerative, bio-dynamic and sustainable viticulture approaches.

We select native varieties and process them by hand. The winemaking approach is a combination of ancient and modern techniques, as we try to make minimal use of added sulphites, we scrupulously follow pH levels, trying to keep it as low as possible to create an environment hostile to pathogens and bacteria. Furthermore, we look to achieve an important phenolic extraction (which adds anti-oxidant properties to the wine) by following my family tradition which leaves all the stalks to macerate with the grapes for about 15 days. For this reason (unlike common winemaking practice) the pressing must, rich in phenols coming from both the skins and stems, is combined to the free-run must.

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To ensure that the grapes express the unique terroir in which they are grown as well as their varietal character, we allow the native yeasts endemic to the vineyard and/or cellar to initiate and continue a slow fermentation. The maceration and punching down uses "Cannonatura", which is an ancient technique for the extraction of phenolic compounds and pigments used only in the northern part of the island. The wines rest in a cool, dark environment for approximately 8 months for refinement on their yeasts, without decanting, in 225 liter barrels. We use old neutral French oak barrels free of lactones to prevent the flavor of the wood from influencing the native aspects of the grape variety, respecting a non-interventionist winemaking approach. The wines are bottled unfiltered and un-fined.