Between The Wines November 2022
hidden Treasures
Hidden Treasures
Trends & observations
Planeta Though Sicily is part of Italy, it is worlds apart from most of Italy’s mainland. Boasting their own dialect, the cuisine and culture was influenced by the numerous tribes & civilizations that controlled Sicily off and on over the past three millennia, each culture adding a layer to the onion that is Sicily. Vinously speaking, though wine has been made here for much of the last 3,000 years, by the middle of the 20th century Sicily’s wine culture had devolved to making mostly boring, insipid wines—all about quantity, not quality. But happily, in the 70’s and 80’s, a few families recognized the wasted opportunity and helped change the course of wine on the entire island. Planeta was one of those families. Diego Planeta was the Director of the Settesoli Co-Op in Menfi in southern Sicily, a 2,000 grower organization that helped give co-ops a bad name, making lots of ‘white paper’ (bland, characterless wines from overcropped vineyards…usually ending up at an E.U. distillery).
What's New But he knew that they—and most of the Sicilian wine trade—were not realizing their potential and that making smaller amounts of good wine was more profitable and more sustainable than making huge amounts of the watered-down stuff. So, risking personal fortune and much pushback, he started the Planeta winery, with quality as the goal. He reached out to other owners and people of means to join in. He created a quasi-governmental ‘Quality Association’. He planted new, international varieties. He traveled the world to promote Sicily’s wines. On this last action, he was oft compared to Robert Mondavi since like Diego, Mr. Mondavi promoted Napa first and foremost and his own winery second.
Continued....
Quotation of the Month: "life is basically all you do have to do to get from coffee to wine. -unknown