Planeta farms across Sicily, from Menfi on the southwest coast to Etna, and this is the estate's white blend from its Menfi holdings. Four grapes go into it: Grecanico, an old Sicilian variety also grown in the Aeolian Islands, plus Chardonnay, Viognier and Fiano. The 2019 vintage is dry, medium-bodied, and low in tannin.
- Grecanico, Chardonnay, Viognier, Fiano.
- Sicily, Italy — the island's western vineyards.
- 2019, a warm and generous Sicilian year.
- 12.5% ABV, 750ml.
- Dry, medium acidity, medium body.
How it is made
Each grape is picked and vinified separately, so the blend is assembled rather than co-fermented. Grecanico brings the Sicilian spine, Chardonnay the roundness, Viognier the perfume, Fiano the texture. The wine stays unoaked, which keeps the fruit forward and the acidity in balance.
How it tastes
White peach and citrus zest lead, with melon underneath and a faint almond note on the finish. Mediterranean herbs run through it, the same scrub that grows between the rows. There is a mineral edge that keeps the fruit from feeling soft. Medium in body, dry throughout, with enough acidity to hold its shape.
Where it comes from
Sicily has been a wine island since the Greeks planted it, and for most of the twentieth century it sold volume rather than character. The last thirty years changed that. Planeta is one of the estates that pushed the island toward site-specific, varietal wines, working vineyards from Menfi to Vittoria to Noto to Etna.
Good to know
Grecanico was long treated as a workhorse grape, mostly blended away or distilled. It is the same variety as Garganega, the grape behind Soave in the Veneto, which is why the two share that almond-tinged finish.
Contains alcohol.
