Planeta Sicilian Wine Tasting with Special Guest Allessio Planeta

Thoughts on the matter: “I like all paintings. I always look at the paintings, good or bad, in barbershops, furniture stores, provincial hotels. I’m like a drinker who needs wine. As long as it is wine, it doesn’t matter which wine.”

Pablo Picasso
Painter

It always matters which wine we drink at Wine Watch and if we are going to Sicily we want to drink the wines of Planeta Winery.  They actually have five wineries on the island and we were the first to visit the newest winery on Mount Etna when we visited in 2012. 

Allessio Planeta was there to host us and cooked an incredible lunch for our group that visited on one of our stops cruising from Rome to Venise on the Silver Seas.  Join us as we welcome Allessio to South Florida for a special night of Sicilian wines and Chef Toni is preparing a special menu to accompany these indigenous selections.

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $195 + Tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any food allergies or aversions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.

PLANETA SICILIAN WINE TASTING WITH SPECIAL GUEST ALLESSIO PLANETA
Thursday, February 8, 2024
7:30 PM

2022 Planeta Rose Sicily D.O.C.
2018 Planeta Eruzione 1614 Carricante Etna
2020 Planeta Cometa Fiano Sicily
2021 Planeta Chardonnay Sicily
2020 Planeta Cerasuolo Di Vittoria Sicily
2021 Planeta Etna Rosso
2020 Planeta Santa Cecilia Noto Doc
2016 Planeta Burdese Sicily

Menu
Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie
Seafood Stew
Eggplant Caponata served with Ricotta Arancini
Swordfish Involtini
Chocolate Chip Cannoli

The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $195 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.   Please let us know if you have any food allergies of aversions when you make you reservations and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.

 
A bit about Planeta Winery:

The Planeta family’s journey begins at Sambuca di Sicilia, on the estate which the Planeta family has owned since the 1600s.  Here on Italy’s most enchanting island, three enthusiastic young Sicilians, Alessio, Francesca and Santi Planeta, began their winemaking venture in the mid-1980s. Subsequent years were spent matching the extraordinarily diverse Sicilian soils with both indigenous and international varieties. Years of careful research paid off when the Planeta wines were met with immediate critical acclaim upon introduction in the U.S. in the late 1990s.

The natural progress of Planeta’s journey necessarily lead to Etna, to the “Muntagna” as it is called, with respect, by its inhabitants. A fascinating terroir with great potential, where Sicily is shown in a unique manner resulting from the area’s soil and microclimate.  These elements inspired Planeta from the beginning with an environment different from what they were used to. Harvests at the end of October, cool – if not downright cold temperatures and thus different wines, different aromas and a completely different approach.

When I visited Mount Etna Allessio Planeta met us out in the vineyard at the new winery on Mount Etna to show our group of 16 traveling on a Silver Seas Cruise his new vineyards and the winery which would be used for the first time that year.  The vineyards up on Mount Etna are some of the most unique that I have ever been to with unique indigenous varietals like Nerello Mascalese for the red and Carricante for the white, most wine drinking people have never of these varietals.

The Carricante can be a rich full bodied white with lots of minerality from the unique volcanic soils, of which there are two types.  One is a combination of lava and rock and the other type featured the grey volcanic ash and rock soils.  There are places in the vineyards where there is just a huge smattering of rocks which looks like they were just thrown there from the last time the volcano went off.  It looks more like a scene from mars that wine country.

Mount Etna is the highest active volcano in the world with a height of nearly 4000 meters, it is also active and regularly goes off and spews volcanic ash into the air.

The Planeta Family owns 15 hectares on Etna and this is one of the most substantial sized vineyards in the area with a production of 100,000 cases total with all of the five wineries.  This is the newest one and with this one completed it gives them representation in all five of the different wine producing area on the island.  Although this is a small island they are all distinctly different, giving you a taste of the best that Sicily has to offer.  What is next for the Planeta family?  There are a few new projects like a hotel and plans for more agro tourism to further enhance your visit to this historic island.  If you are going to Sicily check out the accommodations that Planeta winery offers today.

The area is extraordinarily rich with minerals and black lava sand like the stones of the local old buildings and terraces.  The Planeta family has five wineries on the island of Sicily and this one is produced at their Feudo di Mezzo winery, situated in the heart of Etna viticulture. It comes from Nerello Mascalese grapes, and from the search for a modern expression of this noble grape variety cultivated in the unique and splendid terroir of Etna. 

All the Planeta Wines in the store on SALE!!

2022 PLANETA ROSE SICILY D.O.C.
List Price: $17.50             Your Price: $15.40
The delicate color is reminiscent of the elegance of a prima ballerina. Floral notes of hibiscus and dog rose encounter hints of wild strawberries, blackberries and melon. Lively and fresh in the mouth recalling meringue and pale peach flesh.

2018 PLANETA ERUZIONE 1614 CARRICANTE ETNA
Price: $43.50                     Your Price: $38.28
(93 Points) This is a blend of 90% Carricante that has been enhanced with 10% Riesling. It is amazing how much range, dimension, depth and overall definition that small percentage of Riesling brings to the table. These two grapes find remarkable harmony in the 2017 Sicilia Carricante Eruzione 1614. The clarity and precise nature of those linear and almost-salty mineral notes found in Carricante are embellished and reinforced by subtle tones of petrol, ginger and beeswax that come from the Riesling. Together, these grapes make for beautiful and impactful aromatic intensity. Some 60,000 bottles were produced.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2021 PLANETA CHARDONNAY SICILY
Price: $46.50                     Your Price: $40.92
Single-variety Chardonnay whose characteristics which have madeit so famous which here emerge very clearly. Starting from therichness of its deep clear golden but transparent color one imaginesthe pleasing contrast of creaminess and crispness in the taste. It isindeed a soft white wine underlaid by a refreshing acid vein whichaccompanies each mouthful. A slight mineral suggestion combinesharmoniously with the flavour of ripe yellow peaches, acacia honeyand marzipan and with some peaty, cereal and toasted aromaswhich precede the powerful balanced finish. For a change, try it withsome just seared foie gras or with roast veal and mushroom sauce

2018 PLANETA CHARDONNAY DIDACUS SICILY
Price: $130.50                   Your Price: $114.84
A pure expression of Chardonnay executed in a beautifully Burgundian style, complete with a sunny Sicilian twist. The wine shows precision and focus, yet it offers a generous array of stone fruit and floral aromas along the way. As the wine takes on more weight in the glass, it begins to reveal rounder and more opulent tones of Sicilian almond, candied fruit, orange peel, anise seed, and salty mineral tones that recall the soft sea breezes that wash gently over Menfi in the southern part of the island.

2020 PLANETA CERASUOLO DI VITTORIA SICILY
Price: $23.00                     Your Price: $20.24                Quantity in Stock: 2
An intensely perfumed red that brings together two of Sicily’s most significant indigenous varieties – Nero d’Avola and Frappato. Vibrant strawberry and raspberry aromas are accented by beautiful floral aromas. Both fleshy and delicately silky, the wine displays a striking purity of fruit, in particular ripe red berries and candied bing cherries. Notes of rose petals and violets ring out on the long finish, which is supple and persistent. A light undertone of volcanic minerality contributes verve to this graceful beauty.

Production Area: Vittoria, Sicily, Italy Grape Varieties: 60% Nero d’Avola, 40% Frappato Vinification:The grapes are de-stemmed and crushed; extraction on skins conducted, with 8 days of maceration. After racking, malolactic fermentation takes place in steel tanks. Aged for four months in 100% stainless steel prior to bottling in mid-February. Color: Intense ruby red with pink hues Bouquet: Typical of wines produced in the Vittoria area. Fruity, reminiscent of red berries, strawberries, cherries, figs, ginger and fruit drops. Very distinctive, this is the wine that best highlights the characteristics of the terroir Taste: Supple, vibrant and wonderfully fresh, with a long finish Alcohol: 13.3%

2021 PLANETA ETNA ROSSO
List Price: $32.25             Your Price: $28.38                Quantity in Stock: 7
Vanilla, sour cherry, wild strawberry, a very clean floral effect.In the mouth substantial but smooth. Very expressive fruit with more complex aromatic elements of undergrowth, myrtle and oriental spices. A wine which unexpectedly transforms into a champion of drinkable red wine with marked savoury flavour and a tasting profile produced by a ferrous touch, rhubarb and very evident black pepper. A wine for everyday drinking.

2018 PLANETA BURDESE SICILY
Price: $45.00                     Your Price: $39.60
A blend of 70/30 Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, dark cherry liqueur, sweet tobacco, a bit of a wild game like character along with violet floral notes. Nice structure here on the tongue with big tannins and lots of dark berry fruit along with that wild character, dark spices. Finish 50+ Most Excellent

2016 PLANETA BURDESE SICILY
Price: $45.00                     Your Price: $39.60                Quantity in Stock: 5

2018 PLANETA SANTA CECILIA NOTO DOC
Price: $46.50     Your Price: $40.92           Quantity in Stock: 7
A 100% Nero D'Avola, this is their flagship red and this wine sees 12 months in French oak, this wine has a very unique bouquet pommegranite like fruit, dark plum and a roasted coffee, fresh flowers very complex bouquet. A very forward and fruity wine with nice structure and depth a good hand of spice and a long zesty finish, has some tannins here so this wine should last a decade or more in your cellar very nicely built and even better on the second day!! Finish 45+ Most Excellent