Su Meli

Today we are taking a deep dive into the art of Sardinian honeys with Su Meli, located on the South West Coast in San Giovanni Suergiu, the land of one of Sardinia’s most precious red wines, Carignano, and not too far from the island of Carloforte, the home to our Sardinian Red Tuna.

On our way to the Santadi vineyard, we visited Riccardo Locci and his uncle Ugo at their family borgo in the rolling hills of San Giovanni Suergiu. Words do not do justice to the beauty of the surrounding hills, seaside views, and especially Riccardo’s family borgo, a collection of centuries-old houses, abandoned from 1950 to the 1980’s: as Riccardo and his uncle explained, “It was hell out here, no sewage, no electricity, no running water.” 

Hard for us to imagine as we were in the courtyard with the Mediterranean Sea in the background and the perfume of the macchia mediterranea (Sardinian flowers and shrubs) and the cheeses and wine Riccardo had brought to pair with his honeys.

First of all, bees are incredible. I never knew the complexity of how they work in synchrony as if they were “one living organism, the queen being the brain, and the other bees completing the body.”

And I surely did not know the queen bee leaves the hive only once in her life, when she flies up to 100 yards in the air, reproduces with as many mates as possible, then dedicates her life to eating like a queen and depositing 2,000 eggs per day.

Riccardo, together with his father, is continuing the family tradition. In addition to keeping bees, Riccardo is an audio video maker: a wonderful and rare combination for a Sardinian artisan, as you can see from the pictures!

Riccardo showed us how his ancestors collected bees with the inside of a hollowed out cork trunk with some iron rods criss-crossed inside. He also explained ancient traditions such as the making of Sapa di Miele, a caramelized concoction made from the residual honey coming from the cleaning of the honeycomb, orange and lemon peels, quince, and Sardinian herbs. This is one more example of how farmers in Sardinia use every part of the animal or product they grow. The Saba di Miele was used (and still is) to make Pane e’ Saba, a Sardinian traditional sweet bread. Sapa di Miele also was used to barter for wine, oil or other staples.