Fiano de Avellino

Campania is an administrative district in the southern part of Italy. Just to the northeast of Naples lies the province of Avellino and within Avellino, we find the town of Taurasi. In the wine world, Taurasi is probably best known for the eponymous Taurasi wine made of Aglianico, Barbera, and Piedirosso, but today we are here to drink white wine made from Fiano de Avellino often just referred to as Fiano.

Taurasi, like much of Italy, has a long and somewhat confusing history. While closer to the Mediterranean Sea than to most of the rest of Europe, Taurasi was long occupied by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe from far to the north. From that occupation, we see the Germanic influences in the architecture including th. In the castle in the center of town. In the 11th century, however, the Normans conquered Taurasi and enlarged the castle adding their own influence to the castle that still stands. So, we see a peculiar combination of architecture in the castle -- Germanic toward the center and Norman toward the edges.

Summers in Taurasi are excellent for growing grapes. Unfortunately, the warm, dry summers are quite short and the winters while not exactly cold are not a time to grow grapes. So, the grapes they can grow here are quite limited. But, Fiano has found a home here.

Why is Fiano not found elsewhere (they have actually begun producing it in Hunter Valley, Australia)? The vines must be planted fairly sparsely and each grape yields little juice. So, an estate's choices with Fiano are to make little wine per acre of vineyard and thus little profit, or to charge high prices for the wine and scare away typical buyers. 

All that said, Fiano produces an interesting white wine. In it's Campanian form, Fiano produces a bold, quite acidic, highly aromatic white wine brimming with fleshy stone fruit. We also get plenty of candied citrus fruit particularly lemon and mandarin orange perhaps with notes of honey from the bees that are drawn to the Fiano vineyards.

Fiano de Avellino does give us a load of pairing options when considering food. Chicken, pork, fish, and shellfish will all work. The citrus lends itself to lighter, somewhat sweet cheeses, and the natural acidity allows Fiano to carry the tomato-based sauces of the area.