Santa Cecilia Nero d’Avola Noto DOC

Planeta’s journey began at Sambuca di Sicilia, on the estate owned by the family since the 1600s. Here, three enthusiastic young Sicilians, Alessio, Francesca and Santi Planeta, under the guidance of Diego Planeta, began their winemaking venture in the mid-1980s. Subsequent years were spent matching the extraordinarily diverse Sicilian soils with both indigenous and international varieties. Planeta today encompasses six distinct wine estates in five regions across Sicily; Ulmo at Sambuca di Sicilia, Dispensa at Menfi, Dorilli at Vittoria, Buonivini at Noto, Sciara Nuova on Etna at Castiglione di Sicilia, and the newest addition, La Baronia at Capo Milazzo. Each vineyard site is carefully cultivated with grapes that best compliment the local terroir.

The Nero d'Avola vines grow at Buonivini, where white limestone soil with an abundance of small stones, breezes arising from the meeting of two seas, creates the best conditions to make the vines grow successfully. Santa Cecilia is an expression of elegance, power, balance and eminence of the unique aromas of Sicily. The 2019 vintage saw an extraordinarily wet autumn in 2018, which replenished the water reserves of the ground and in some way cooled the soil. The winter was fairly mild, while the spring was prolonged with fairly low temperatures, particularly during May. This combination – cold soil, a cold spring following a mild winter – contributed to an exceptionally late start to the harvest in almost the whole of Sicily. August had perfect weather, but with moments of humidity. Early September rains perfectly completed the final ripening stages of the grapes, then continued without surprises. The harvest at Noto began later than usual and was also slightly lower. The Nero d’Avola ripened very slowly. Yield was decidedly low but the results are very fresh, spicy wines.

The harvest took place September 24th–25th. Destalking was followed by 21 days remaining on the skins; after racking, malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks.

Opens with notes of Mediterranean scrub and scents of lamellaria piled up on Sicilian beaches. Red fruit hints of drunken cherries, overripe wild blackberries; citrus fruit hints of bergamot and bitter orange. Spicy hints of carob flour and incense. The ripe fruit on the palate blends well with the tannin of the wood in accompanying a tannin of dense but open texture calibrated to the structure of this wine with a complex and unmistakable personality.