Baglio di Pianetto, Sicilia Catarratto

Once upon a time in western Sicily, Marsala wine was king. It was crafted from an assortment of white grapes which were blended anonymously, after which the wine was aged oxidatively (and fortified) like Sherry. These days, the Marsala ‘industry’ is a shadow of its former self, but the vineyards—and those well-adapted white grapes—remain.At the other end of the island the wines of Mount Etna are getting all the attention, but there’s another Sicilian storyline I’ve been tracking with interest over the last few years: The killer dry whites being made from those formerly anonymous Marsala grapes. Today’s 2017 from Baglio di Pianetto is a varietal Catarratto, a grape which has kindred qualities to Malvasia, Chardonnay, Roussanne, and a few other better-recognized greats. It is by no means a neutral, light-bodied “quaffer” (a category many Italian whites are summarily thrown into), nor is it the kind of super-ripe, luscious style of white you might expect from such a southerly latitude. Si