2019 Chardonnay

Tasting through the Planeta portfolio is like a master class in Sicilian wine. As I moved from bottle to bottle, of which there were 34 for this report (and that doesn’t even include all the wines Planeta produces), I couldn’t help but marvel at how each of them was able to communicate both varietal purity and terroir. Alessio Planeta, chief winemaker and co-owner, explained that it is their goal to spotlight individual winemaking locations throughout Sicily and to concentrate only on the varieties that excel within each of them. This has resulted in the building of five different wineries throughout the island, each focused on the vineyards surrounding them: Menfi in the west, Capo Milazzo in the northeast (and a stunning location to behold with its craggy rock faces and vineyards that grow a stone's throw from the sea), the slopes of Mount Etna, Noto in the extreme southeastern tip and the south-central Vittoria. The vast differences in terroir from place to place allow Planeta to work with both indigenous and ancient varieties, as well as international ones. This also means that they are constantly at work in the vineyards, with a growing season that seems to always be starting or ending somewhere, and harvests that begin the first week of August with white varieties in warmer locales and end at the highest elevations of Etna in November. What’s even more impressive to me is the level of quality and value that Planeta, as large as they are, continue to deliver, from the entry-level Grillo to the internationally styled top-shelf Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc to the local Nero d’Avola - and, of course, their world-class bottlings of Carricante and Nerello Mascalese. The fact is that a consumer can lose themselves in this portfolio, and it would be a highly pleasurable experience tasting their way back out.