Finding Fiano Part I

(Older vintages of Vadiaperti Fiano d'Avellino)

I have finally arrived back to sunny Los Angeles after a two week tour of Campania, Basilicata, Sicilia and Sardinia. It was an amazing trip that convinced me that I have to spend more time in Italy - there is so much to see, drink and eat! Every time I go to Italy I discover something new, exciting and unexpected. This trip was perhaps the most fruitful yet, as previous notions of Italian wine were shattered on the second day! Many people discount the white wines of Italy as simple, quafable, or just refreshing, (not a bad thing) but a bit of a back-handed compliment. Not that I have ever thought that Italian white wines were less than stellar, but my experience with aged whites from Italy has been limited to Valentini, Emidio Pepe, Gravner, or Gaja (prohibitively expensive). Today, I am here to tell you that Fiano, especially those from the appellation of Avellino need to be consideded in the same breath as great Riesling, Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.

 

  My Fiano experience began in the office of Fabio Cimmino, a well regarded Napoli wine journalist. Mr. Cimmino was gracious enough to put together a tasting of a select few of his favorite producers from Campania. As we proceeded in our blind tasting the wines were lovely, classic and interesting, but half way through the tasting a golden wine was poured in our glass. It had aromas that I had never associated with Italian wine: jasmine, honey, candied orange zest, quince, tufa, smoke (which was the common thread and a classic "tell"), and honeycomb. I had smelled these same aromas in old Vouvray and mature Riesling, but not in Italian white wines. Knowing that Mr. Cimmino was a wine lover we thought he threw in a ringer...he did but it was not from France or Germany, the wine was from Avellino. It was the 1997 Villa d'Amonte Fiano d'Avellino! Mature, but still vibrant with a freshness that belied its age. It was from this point on that I was on a mission to find more old Fiano and explore its evolution. 

 

Comments

[fabiocimmino]

Villa Diamante was the Fiano 1997 !

Greetings from Napoli !

Fabio

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