Chardonnay 2005 Planeta, the Color of Sicily

We tasted one of the flagship wines of the Planeta winery. This Sicilian producer has only been operating since the mid-1990s, despite the family's agricultural tradition dating back to the 1500s. So much so that ownership of the estate is shared among some fifteen cousins.

The wine we tasted has, over time, become one of the best-known symbols of the island's oenological renaissance: we are talking about the Chardonnay 2005 vintage, a release that has long since sold out.

Today Planeta stands as one of the main protagonists of Sicily's wine movement, with over 360 hectares of vineyards spread across six different estates located in the island's most prized growing areas: Ulmo in Sambuca di Sicilia, Dispensa in Menfi, Dorilli in Vittoria, Buonivini in Noto, Feudo di Mezzo on Etna in Castiglione di Sicilia, and La Baronia in Capo Milazzo. All the vineyards were planted directly by the family following their various acquisitions. Over two million bottles are produced, with more than half exported.

The Chardonnay we tasted – as is also the case with other white wines produced by Planeta – comes from the Tenuta dell'Ulmo, located near Sambuca di Sicilia and Lago Arancio. It is one of the two historic estates of the winery (the other being the one in Menfi), situated in a very striking position. It sits at an altitude of between 100 and 250 metres above sea level, right beside the Baglio del '500, also owned by the family. The soil is medium-textured, deep with an abundant skeleton of pebbles, weakly calcareous, in places clayey with an abundant silty fraction.

The vines are trained using trellis systems (Guyot, spur-trained cordon), with fairly significant planting densities (4,000–4,500 vines/ha). Yields are low (75 q/ha), with just over one and a half kilograms of grapes harvested per plant. The 2005 Chardonnay harvest began in the third week of August and was excellent. Once the grapes arrived at the winery, after destemming, gentle pressing and static settling took place at low temperature. Selected yeasts were inoculated into the must, initiating temperature-controlled fermentation (20°C) for a couple of weeks – half the volume in new barriques and the remainder in one-year-old barrels. This was followed by slow aging, again in wood.

Bottling took place in July following the harvest, after approximately 10 months of wood aging, and since then the wine has continued to mature in bottle – from a certain point onward in my own cellar – until just a few days ago. The wine reaches 14% alcohol with over 6 g/l of total acidity.

We will now share our tasting notes.

The wine presents itself as crystal clear, with a colour halfway between gold and amber. The colour strikes us particularly: warm and alluring, it calls to mind the sun-drenched hills of Sicily during the scorching days of August. Swirling the glass, the wine forms close, narrow arches along the sides, with tears that slide slowly downward. Clearly a wine of considerable body.

On the nose we detect an explosion of exotic and preserved fruit. Pineapple, melon, dates, peach jam. Then acacia honey and further spiced notes of nutmeg. The palate is seductive, with a perfect balance between alcohol and freshness that remains very much present. The wine is at the height of its maturity, fully capable of expressing its superb class. The mineral finish is long, with notes of toasted almonds on the aftertaste.

One should always have two bottles of this kind. Who knows what the twin would be like if opened another five years from now. As for the one we had, we thoroughly enjoyed it paired with a dish of farfallette al salmone, dressed with a squeeze of lemon and generous parsley.