Here’s an interesting little distraction, a vertical of Chardonnays from one of Italy’s most admired newer producers and the one that can fairly be said to have put Sicily on the wine map in modern times. The Planeta family was hailed initially on the strength of their Chardonnay and Merlot, perhaps because the greater wine world saw these international varietals as the prism through which all wine producers should be measured, wherever they are.
Today, the Planetas are working arguably hardest on their top bottlings of Sicilian and southern Italian varieties such as their Santa Cecilia, arguably the...