Uncorked: In Sicily, old wines are new again

It's not easy being Alessio Planeta, traveling the world to sell the wines of his native Sicily.

First he has to overcome the island's reputation as the searing desert it was portrayed to be in Clint Eastwood's 1960s spaghetti Westerns and a couple of Francis Ford Coppola's "Godfather" movies.

"Sicily is not as hot as people think," Planeta said. "And we have plenty of rain."

Then he has to get them to taste grapes and wines they've never heard of.

"I say nero d'avola, and people say, 'What's that.'"

But the Planeta family is in for the long haul, having lived and farmed in Sicily since the 1600s. In the 1980s, a new generation of cousins — Alessio, Francesca and Santi Planeta — broke away from the tradition of making bulk wine and began planting international varieties such as chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, syrah and merlot as well as native varietals such as carricante, nero d'avola, frappato and fiano.

At first, their chardonnay put them on the map, earning praise from Europe's wine writers. But as wine fans around the world came to sample their native varietals, they became more important, today making up 80 percent of Planeta's yearly production of 2 million bottles.

The nero d'avola grape, named for the southern Sicilian town of Avola, is fruity and spicy, similar to the syrah grapes of France. Carricante, a powerful, acidic white grape, is native to Mount Etna. The wine called "cerasuolo," Italian for "cherry red," is a blend of nero d'avola and frappato, a light red grape similar to sangiovese. The fiano grape, from Italy's Campania region, is a powerful white grape that dates back to Roman times.

Sampling Sicily's varied climates, the Planetas today have five vineyards and wineries scattered in the island's four corners plus the black lava slopes of the volcano Mount Etna.

The younger Planetas began ambitious efforts to improve the quality of their native grapes.

"The grapes have improved through modern clonal selection of grape vines, pruning, modern production methods," said Alessio Planeta.

Sicily's agricultural officials have taken note. Today, universities on the island are researching more of what they call "antique" grape varieties. Staffers have visited every old vineyard and winery on the island, interviewing the oldest employees about the possibility of obscure native varietals still growing there in tiny quantities.

"We reproduce them in their original sites," he said — saving varieties that otherwise might have disappeared. "We already have 19 new 'antique' varieties, and we expect as many as 20 more," Planeta said.

"Will they all be wonderful? We will see."

Already, Planeta says, his travels to the United States and dozens of other countries have convinced him the once-obscure native Sicilian grapes are catching on. "Young people see nero d'avola as trendy," he said.

Highly recommended

2010 Planeta Carricante, IGT Sicilia (100 percent carricante grapes): aromas and flavors of ripe pears and minerals, crisp and rich and ripe, smooth, long finish; $40.

2010 Planeta Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG Sicilia (60 percent nero d'avola, 40 percent frappato grapes): light red color, intense, juicy and fruity flavor of tart and sweet cherries, cinnamon and minerals; $22.

Recommended

2009 Planeta "Cometa" Fiano, IGT Sicilia (100 percent fiano grapes): aromas and flavors of kiwi, white grapefruit and minerals, rich, crisp, powerful and full-bodied; $40.

2009 Planeta Chardonnay, IGT Sicilia (100 percent chardonnay grapes): aromas and flavors of ripe peaches, almonds and minerals, crisp acids, long finish; $40.