The SOMM Journal

August/September 2014

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6 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014 A Tour of the Unknown Sicily with Francesca first press IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT SICILIAN WINES, your assumptions are likely to be overturned by Francesca Planeta. And there will be no arguing with her, thank you. Francesca, whose family owns the pioneering Planeta wine empire, consisting of six estates ringing the island, has all the expected attributes of a Sicilian woman: strong, self- possessed, passionate and opinionated. But she also has the unexpected: a British mother, a London educa - tion, Master's degree number two at age 22 and a former career as global marketing executive at Nestlé S.A. All this bodes well for not only Planeta, but for all producers in Sicily, because when Francesca speaks about the wines her family makes, she is also speaking for all of Sicily. "Sicily had a very bad image for wine—so I had to create something and show people that something new was happening," she says. "I had to give an image that was fresh and new. I really tried to break that classic image of Italian wines and move into something fresher and younger." She says it wasn't always easy with people thinking Sicily was a back - water—and the wines not much better. "When I started, we had only the really bad connotation. Now things have changed because of tourism and quick communications. People [see] Sicily as a beautiful, pure authentic place to visit, and the attitude about Sicily is very positive." Francesca is hoping that will help change the attitude about Sicilian wines. Sicily's 2012 upgrade from IGT to its own DOC (DOC Sicilia) should help. Sicily has 22 DOC regions and one DOCG, Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Francesca says the uplift helps give a stronger identity to blended wines such as those produced at Planeta (the lower tier of wines is now known as IGT Terre Siciliane). It's an initiative the Planeta family has supported for nearly all the 20 years it has made wine in Sicily. Francesca's father, Diego, was president of an influential wine cooperation and director of a research institute for nearly 20 years before starting Planeta with her cousins in 1985. The first vintage was in 1995. By Lana Bortolot Cerasuolo di Vittoria is Sicily's answer to Pinot Noir. Nero d'Avola is the red grape most iden- tified with Sicily, but Francesca Planeta hopes discussion will soon turn from varieties to terroir. Planeta Moscato di Noto bears no resemblance to sweeter versions made elsewhere. Planeta's Dispensa Winery in Menfi. Francesca Planeta hopes that soon consumers will ask not for a wine from Sicily, but from Noto or Menfi.

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