While I was in Verona at Wine2Wine, I had the chance to speak with Alessio Planeta, President at Assovini Sicilia and Owner at Planeta Winery.

For five centuries and through seventeen generations, Planeta has been active in changing and improving agriculture in Sicily. Alessio Planeta has spent his life dedicated to the study of Sicily and figuring out how to make it a significant force in world wine. With his family, Alessio now has six wineries around Sicily, and they have almost single-handedly put Sicily on the map as a quality player.

Planeta continues its mission to show what Sicily can do and what it’s forgotten varietals can bring to the world of wine. They are one of the big reasons we have access to excellent Sicilian wine today.

Here are the notes:

• Alessio tells us about Sicily, the history of his family, and how Planeta evolved to become a significant force in the wine world, putting Sicily on the world wine map of quality
• We discuss the quality revolution in Sicily, begun, in part by Diego Planeta, Alessio's uncle
• Alessio tells us about the amazing conditions of Sicily -- the diverse terrain, vast number of native grapes, the skilled workers, the excellent climate, that makes it a garden ideal for viticulture
• We learn about how the innovative nature of the Planeta family. Alessio discusses their desire to find talent from outside the island (including Giacomo Tachis, Carlo Corino, Giampaolo Fabris and Attilio Scienza) the openness to using "international" grapes, and then the slow introduction of the indigenous wines of Sicily created a category for Nero d'Avola, Grillo, Carricante, Nerello Mascalese and others that is booming!
• Alessio addresses the fact that people may still underestimate Sicily and talks about the bright future of Sicilian wine

Thanks to Wine2Wine Verona for inviting me to speak and for allowing me the opportunity to meet Gaia Gaja and share this show with all of you!

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