We gathered every Australian varietal fiano we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the wines that made the panellists’ top-six selections from the tasting.
Our panel: Dr Ray Nadeson, owner and winemaker Lethbridge Estate; Isabelle Szyman, wine buyer Rathdowne Cellars; Abby Moret DipWSET, owner Atlas Vinifera; Michael Trembath, director Trembath & Taylor; James Scarcebrook, owner and winemaker Vino Intrepido; Kara Maisano DipWSET, Wine Director Masani; Iona Baker DipWSET, Trembath & Taylor. All wines were tasted blind.
This was Maisano’s top wine, it polled one spot back for two tasters and appeared in the top-six lists for two others. “Honeysuckle, juicy white nectarine, tangerine peel, fresh sage, glacé lemon and pink grapefruit,” wrote Maisano. “This wine dances on the palate with citrus and almond kernel flavours. Unctuously polished and refreshing with a plethora of aromas lingering on the finish. Couldn’t put it down.” Szyman described it as “The summer holiday I didn’t get this year. The nose gives generously with a tropical flair, lychee and pineapple and honeysuckle blossoms. The palate has a refreshing mineral quality, with sumptuous fruit weight that finishes drily.” Scarcebrook praised the “very classic fruit profile, some citrus and apple notes, a hint of under-ripe nectarine, a bit of crunch but for a fresh style it is offering plenty.” Trembath described it as an “appetising wine in an aperitif style – crisp and mouth-watering. Beautifully made, well-balanced and has a lot of flavour and dimension.” “Herbaceous and zesty with a distinctly aromatic nose somewhat reminiscent of sauvignon blanc,” wrote Nadeson. “However, the wine still shows sweet lemon brined olives and touches of honey, which would lead you down the fiano path. Excellent length and an undeniable balance of flavour.”
Both Trembath and Moret selected this as their top wine of the tasting, and it featured in Nadeson and Szyman’s top-six selections. “Great nose,” Moret wrote, “evocative of fresh pineapple, almond, jonquil/spring flowers, dandelion and river stones. Bright acid contributes to a really juicy palate with crunchy stone fruit characters of nectarine and white peach. Great concentration, fine back-palate phenolics and a very moreish drinkability. It’s the sort of wine that you could drink on its own or pair with some really cracking dishes.” Trembath called it “engaging and inviting. Beautiful pristine honeysuckle aromatics. Crunchy nashi pear flavours. The palate is sweetly fruited, clean, flavoursome and beautifully balanced. Delicious.” “This wine was a good example of a wine made in a chardonnay-inspired style,” wrote Nadeson, putting this in his top three. “Good use of subtle oak complements the fruit spectrum of white peach and greenish tropical fruit. The palate is rich without being overblown, and the length was fine and persistent. Would please a traditional chardonnay drinker looking for a wine adventure.” Szyman described it as “bright and fresh. This wine has a vibrant pink grapefruit zing straight off the bat. Fragrant scents of red apple skins and orange zest, and a palate that leaves the mouth watering for a second (or third!) glass.”
This was the top wine of the tasting for both Scarcebrook and Szyman. “A great example of Australian fiano that successfully evokes varietal character,” wrote Szyman. “Wafts of fresh hay, golden apples and lemon verbena on the nose. The palate is brisk and fresh with a little chew and crunch, orange pith, with a briny lingering finish. Balances acidity, body and texture nicely.” “Slightly smoky, a little oily and waxy, leaner more ripe fruits on the nose, resin and a bit of lanolin in there, more chardonnay like,” wrote Scarcebrook. “A little leesy in terms of texture … ripe apple and lemon curd, rounder yet maintaining focus. I like the depth and complexity, tight on the front and opens up nicely as it moves back. Good weight, too.”
“Ripe yellow plum, grapefruit pulp, lemon peel, pickled green olives and celery salt,” wrote Maisano, giving this her second to top place. “Bright on the palate, a persistence of stone fruit notes, in addition to a whisper of tropical glacé fruits. A true food wine, especially seductive with the salty herbal finale.” Nadeson thought this was another wine that could be mistaken for a quality chardonnay. “More ‘Beaune than Boot’ for me,” he wrote. “However, it’s an excellent wine with a lovely expression of white stone fruit, lemon curd and a touch of vanilla. Long and persistent on the palate, satisfying and balanced. On my first round of tasting this was my favoured wine but fell down the ranks because other wines in the line-up had a better claim to ‘Fiano-ness’.” Baker also had this in her top six. “Pale straw coloured and light aromatically, flinty with typical white peach, almonds, jasmine and appealing apple sherbet aromas,” she wrote. “I expected the palate to be light and zesty. Then the palate was denser, richer, more intense: nutty, a pleasant almost toffee-apple ripeness, guava, with fresh peachy flavours and a little waxy.”
Nadeson accorded this top place for the tasting, while it also featured in Baker’s top three. Nadeson felt that many wines in the tasting were in either a chardonnay or a sauvignon blanc mould in terms of style. “However, the wines that most interested me where ones that highlighted wine characteristics that are more unique to fiano,” he wrote. “Wine 43 ticked the fiano boxes for me. The wine showed a gorgeous density and viscosity, while retaining all the zip and drive of lively acidity. The flavour profile was a complex serving of Meyer lemon rind intertwined with sprays of honeysuckle, lightly sprinkled with hazelnut meal and with a dash of dirty Martini. Delicious, chalky and persistent.” Baker also fell for the wine’s varietal qualities. “Vibrant intense lemon in colour with tinges of green,” she wrote, “a harmonious wine showing the best qualities of fiano: white peaches, rockmelon and white pepper, with silky layered texture, a little creamy, nutty and honeyed at the finish.”
This was Baker’s top wine, and it also featured in Moret and Szyman’s top-six lists. “A light golden colour, the nose is ripe and slightly exotic, showing aromas of leatherwood honey, beeswax, peach-like stone fruit, honeysuckle flowers and hazelnuts backed up with hints of flinty minerality,” wrote Baker. “The palate was rich, textured and complex, possibly from some skin contact or lees stirring. The rich honeyed characters balanced by refreshing flavours of pure white peach, pink lady apples and lingering understated salt and spice.” Szyman thought that the wine “achieves a lovely balance of sumptuous lime sorbet-esque acidity and soft golden apple fruit character, with an edge of savouriness that evokes green almonds and warm honey.”
“Lemon oil, hazelnut, rock salt and grapefruit pith aromas,” wrote Moret. “The palate is very varietal with pineapple, sea salt/green olive brine, apricot and floral notes. Stylish and tight with great length – a classy example that would appeal to a lot of people, with a subtler intensity than some of the other examples, not quite as overt or showy, but with a quiet elegance.”
“Pale straw with green reflections,” wrote Trembath, giving this second place on his tasting sheet. “Pear and apple aromas and flavours combined with light minerality. The palate shows great sapidity, and light textural elements add a wonderful dimension.” Scarcebrook also had this in his top three. “A little bit more interesting on the nose, with riper and fleshier notes,” he began. “Warmer on the palate, good ripeness and still plenty of freshness, lime cordial and crisp green apples. Inland region perhaps… has that candied note on the nose, perhaps even some skin contact? Good crunchy texture, decent flesh without losing the freshness, bright and pure with a fantastic line through the palate, a bit of viscosity coats the mouth too. Very much like this one.”
“A lovely wine, bright vibrant and alive,” wrote Nadeson, with this just missing out on his top spot. “Again, a wine that showed uniquely fiano-like characteristics of lemon pith, honey, beeswax and brined green olives. Restrained, and beautifully balanced between richness and freshness.” Maisano also had this in her top-six selections. “Grapefruit segments, lemon peel, white nectarine and sea spray,” she began. “Deliciously fresh, this wine takes me to a rockpool. Hallmark summer stone fruits and herbs de Provence complete the Mediterranean experience.”
This featured on both Baker and Szyman’s top-six lists. “This wine is very aromatic and pretty, with delicious fruit purity and distinct aromas of yellow nectarine, orange flowers, mandarin and lime citrus,” wrote Baker. “Light to medium bodied with a clean, linear fruit-driven palate highlighting a core of juicy nectarine, pineapple and honeysuckle made interesting by a hint of saline, chalky minerality.” “Pretty white florals dance out of the glass, alongside a kind of nostalgic scent that is reminiscent of SPC tinned fruit salad,” wrote Szyman. “The palate is flush with acidity and a slight oiliness that reminds me of nibbling on blanched almonds, that balances the slight chew from some phenolics. I’d love a slice of a hard, salty cheese to go with this wine.”
Szyman included this in her top three. “The nose on this wine conjured up crisp apple skins, sorrel leaves and white peaches,” she began. “All crisp and crunch on the nose, though the fruit on the palate is softer and more sumptuous. Coats the palate generously with flavour and intensity, with a wash of sea-spray-like salinity on the finish.” “I like this,” declared Trembath. “It’s almost a cross between a lighter and fuller style. Quite successful. It’s clean, nutty with red apple and wet stone characters, finishing with a lot of flavour and texture.
“Sunflower, candied mixed peel, clingstone peaches with hints of green almonds and artichoke leaves,” began Maisano in including this in her top six. “Fine, linear and balanced with exhilarating fiano characteristics.” Scarcebrook also selected this as one of his top-six wines of the tasting. “Slightly leesy, cheesy, savoury smoky notes, with good interplay of citrus/stone fruits and savoury elements,” he wrote. “Surprisingly textured on the palate, bit of crunch and some oxidative handling characters, nice juiciness without it becoming too ripe and tropical, balanced alcohol and acidity, very drinkable but also food friendly.”
“With a very pale lemon colour I was pleasantly surprised with the wine’s lifted aromas, that while delicate were complex,” wrote Baker as she gave this her second top spot. “Higher notes of lemon pith, jasmine flowers, a chalky minerality backed up with subtle a honeyed, waxy character. The lemon carried through on the palate, which also showed white nectarine, delicate ginger and crisp green apple in the mid-palate and closed finishing with appealing blanched almond-like finish. However, it’s the wine’s feminine mouthfeel, rounded yet fine and silky that I really loved.”
This came second for Moret’s in the tasting. “Wet river stones, peaches, lemonade and wildflowers all contribute to a really fresh, lively nose,” she wrote. “A rich, aromatic style that strikes an excellent balance due to zippy acidity and a fine phenolic structure stopping it crossing the line from opulent into flabby or over the top. Very drinkable, and a nice sidestep for chardonnay drinkers looking for something with a bit of weight.”
This featured towards the middle of Moret’s top-six selections. “Heady nose, very lifted notes of peaches, green melon and golden flowers, with touches of rock salt,” she wrote. “Pretty and textural with great weight – intense chunky pineapple and lychee flavours. A natural progression for sauvignon blanc fans, as it has the same punchy, vibrant flavour profile.”
From fiano vines that were grafted onto 30-year-old riesling vines in the Clare Valley subregion of Auburn, Trembath selected this in his top-three wines of the tasting. “This is made in a bright clean manner to preserve the beautiful honeysuckle fruit characters that mingle well with a saline briny minerality,” he wrote. “Crisp, clean and delicious.”
From the Lacey vineyard in the Sellicks Foothills subregion of McLaren Vale, this is the fourth edition of fiano under the Juxtaposed label. “An exotic mix of lemon cream, white cherries, apricot kernel, brazil nut and wet river stone,” wrote Maisano in putting this in her top three. “This wine shows off fiano’s capacity to combine texture, roundness and tension gripping the palate all at once.”
“Smoky, charred pineapple, with exotic notes of lily of the valley, cedar and sandalwood – quite a wild and intoxicating nose,” wrote Moret as she gave this a top-six finish. “Zippy red apple acidity with a polished, glossy texture that has great weight and concentration. Length is fantastic, again another great alternative to chardonnay, especially with the measured oak usage giving it a white Burgundy struck match character.”
“Passionfruit, almond meal, pecorino and river-stone aromatics lead to a sweet fruit-driven palate with very clean lines,” wrote Moret in giving this a top-six spot. “Preserved lemon, pineapple and grilled peach create a very tropical vibe, with some briny/saline notes and hints of ginger providing a good balance. Luscious mouthfeel with a rounded, powerful finish.” Scarcebrook also pulled it out for one of his selections. “More subdued, moving into that chardonnay style of fiano, pithy citrus,” he began. “Riper and richer on the palate, still excellent freshness, good texture, perhaps some barrel work and lees contact, reasonably good depth.”
This made the top six for Baker and Nadeson. “Lemon coloured, with lifted and intense aromas and bold flavours of pineapple, fresh red apples, yellow nectarine and peaches,” wrote Baker. “The zesty lemon, peach and apple was highly driven late in the palate, preserving length of flavours and came across as somewhat riesling like.” “A complex, generous wine,” began Nadeson. “Beautiful control and layering of flavours; lemon, lime, honeysuckle and touch of sea spray on the nose. The palate is perfectly complemented by a backbone of acidity and tannin. If skin contact was used, it was done very respectfully to produce a wine of light to medium weight, yet very satisfying.”
This had a top-six finish for Scarcebrook. “More sherbet and a bit of tomato, which I kind of like,” he wrote. “A bit of chenin/Chablis like oyster shell… really interesting, a bit of a soft cheese note. Again, I like it. Bright and fresh, good fruits (citrus and white peach) and certainly vibrant … a surprisingly good wine!”
From the Minchella Vineyard, the fruit was hand-picked before three days of skin contact, then pressed to old oak. Trembath placed this amongst his top-six selections for the tasting. “Yellow in colour with a green olive and almost peppery character,” he wrote. “This is quite rich on the palate, finishing with a textural element and light grip that adds interest.”
From one of the pioneers of fiano in this country, this comes from the Chalmers’ family’s Heathcote vineyard on red Cambrian soils. There is always a portion that sees oak, of late in a chestnut botti, and the wine is always held back in bottle before release. “Gunflint, glacé peaches, fresh pineapple and tart red plums,” began Maisano, giving this a top-six finish. “Distinct and lush with a final note of blanched almonds. Thoroughly delectable even with the spark/spunk of reduction.”
The surge of Italian grape varieties in Australia could give one the impression that all those vines have been championed in Italy for centuries, finding their unique pockets of best expression and maintaining their place, just as pinot noir and chardonnay have in Burgundy, or riesling has in the Mosel. The reality is that many Italian grapes that are now vital symbols of their regions were almost snuffed out of existence.
Grapes such as nebbiolo and sangiovese have never been under any great threat, always being totemic symbols of Italian wine, but many others – such as arneis, greco, pecorino and fiano – were pushed towards extinction in the latter half of the 20th Century, and some are only just properly recovering.
Italian vineyards – along with much of Europe – had been savaged by phylloxera (an American louse that destroys vines) in the 19th century, wiping out many traditional vineyards and threatening the future for varieties that had been grown for hundreds, and in many cases, thousands of years. When time came to plant again, those varieties that had perceived limitations were largely excluded.
“It’s totally a winemaker’s grape. We make traditional method sparkling from fiano in Heathcote with plenty of ripe fruit flavour and loads of acid, so no acid adds and no dosage. Miracle! And as for table wine, it will do anything from steely or aromatic crisp dry whites to lees-aged, textural, oak-influenced wines that drink well up to 10 years. Skin contact also works well for fiano, either short or long. Basically it can do anything. I think fiano will become a major white grape for Aussie viticulture. It just works!”
A tendency to produce naturally low yields saw fiano – a Campanian white grape – shunned in favour of high-yielding and generally reliable varieties, even if they were intrinsically less characterful. As technologically produced wines became possible, high yields were the key to profitability in what was an industrial revolution in wine that churned out blandly pleasing wines. That period saw Italian wine garner an international audience, but in the process, it was beginning to lose some of its identity.
What replaced traditional vines across Italy depended on the region, but in many cases popular local grapes like sangiovese and montepulciano were planted more broadly, while the somewhat nondescript but bountiful trebbiano took up more than its fair share of vineyard space. French varieties also made inroads, which was enhanced with the global obsession with cabernet and chardonnay in the late 20th century.
Those ancient and almost forgotten varieties needed their champions.
In the case of fiano, it took the efforts of Antonio Mastroberardino to almost single-handedly revive its fortunes, while his work with greco was similarly celebrated, and arguably even more so with aglianico, where he championed single-site bottlings, releasing three vineyard-specific Taurasi Riservas in 1968 – a first for southern Italy, and a landmark moment that propelled the aglianico grape onto the world stage
Mastroberardino had considerable success, but he was firmly swimming against the stream for decades before a broad appreciation for the spectrum of the best indigenous varieties again found favour, making more meaningful international breakthroughs in the 1990s, when Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo and Taurasi all become celebrated regional wines.
The Mastroberardino family settled in the town of Atripalda, Irpinia, in 1878, building the estate up over the years, before decades of economic hardship and the catastrophe of World War II saw it all but destroyed. Once Antonio Mastroberardino took the reins, he set about rebuilding the family business in concert with reviving local winegrowing traditions.
Mastroberardino had made his first fiano in 1945, picking bunches from stray vines he found here and there. That first vintage was a mere 30 bottles, but it set in train his desire to revive the fortunes of the grape. That saw him buy up remnant vineyards and propagate vines from cuttings taken off those old vines, as well as advancing his winemaking methods to enshrine fiano grown in Avellino as a world-class wine.
In the 1960s and ’70s, technology was being employed to make bright but somewhat industrial wines that took the world by storm. But that technology also enabled Mastroberardino to present clear varietal fiano – and greco – that would appeal to international tastes, with some ageing in small oak also adding to the appeal at the time.
In 1978, the DOC for Fiano di Avellino was granted (becoming a DOCG in 2003), somewhat cementing the future for the grape. It was not until the 90s that other producers in Irpinia started to make their mark, but they were already established as growers of local varieties, and while much of southern Italy fell into the arms of the key French varieties – especially chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon – Campania pursued a largely indigenous path.
Today, Avellino has some 430 hectares of vines on the limestone and volcanic soils of the region, with an elevation between 400 and 700 metres. That elevation, coupled with a continental climate (warm days but cool nights) and the cooling influence of the Apennine Mountains make the zone a cool one, though with abundant sunshine. The wines naturally vary, with some lower lying vineyards on soil with more clay that make richer wines, while those more elevated can have a distinct smoky minerality from the sulphur-rich soils, and the wines tend to be fine and crisp.
It was not until the 1990s that fiano was seen as a serious prospect outside Campania, with its adaptability to warmer condition proven in lower-lying and warmer areas, such as Cilento on the coast in Campania’s south. While the flavours certainly become richer, tropical even, fiano holds its acidity particularly well in warm climates, maintaining freshness in the finished wines.
That suitability to warm and hot conditions saw fiano succeed in the heel of Italy’s boot, in Puglia, as well as becoming a logical choice for Sicilian vineyards. Today, about 31 per cent of Italy’s fiano plantings are split between those regions, while Campania accounts for 65 per cent of the 1,377 hectares (at last count). Unsurprisingly a smattering exists in Basilicata, which is wedged between Campania and Puglia, as well as further down the boot in Calabria and further north in Molise on the east coast.
Perhaps most notably, Diego Planeta planted the grape for his ambitious eponymous endeavour in Sicily. Along with French red varieties and the tried and trusted nero d’avola, Planeta planted a raft of experimental grapes to find the best fit for sites across the island. He tested some 60 varieties in all and is seen as being largely responsible for championing fiano there from a vineyard in Menfi on the west coast.
Planeta’s ‘Cometa’ was first released in 2000, and it couldn’t have been more different to the classic wines made in Irpinia. At the time, Diego Planeta was very much riding a wave of modernism, making intense fruit-froward styles and often with a dose of oak from French barriques, including in the ‘Cometa’. Style aside, Planeta proved that fiano could thrive in hot conditions, retain acidity, and also that it could age – one of his missions, as few native Sicilian white varieties do.
In 2001, Nicolas Belfrage, the renowned English expert on Italian wines, noted that experiments with fiano were occurring in Sicily, Puglia and Basilicata. “Next thing you know it will be an international star, I don’t think,” he wrote in ‘Brunello to Zibibbo’ his landmark work on the wines from Tuscany through the south and on the islands. That comment is just over 20 years old, and although it is hard to dispute Belfrage’s prediction, fiano’s success may just have eclipsed his modest expectations. While the grape is still largely planted in Italy, Australia now has well over 50 makers working with the grape.
Fiano had in fact found its way to Australia in 1978, which seems somewhat progressive as it was only first granted a DOC in the same year. However, the material that was brought in by the CSIRO never progressed beyond a research phase, with commercial plantings only occurring in the early 21st century. The first vineyards were established by two of the great champions of Italian grapes in Australia, the Coriole and Chalmers families, the former with the CSIRO material and the latter with their own imported vines.
“Fiano is fantastically adaptable to soil types, climate conditions and aspects, so it has found a great home in many different regions of Australia,” says Kim Chalmers, Director at Chalmers Wines. “It is a grape-grower’s dream. It has thick skins, good bunch placement, balanced yields, great natural acidity a great open, upward growing canopy and picture-perfect bunch architecture. Its thick skins mean it has great disease resistance as well as sun protection, so it can work well in humid and hot climates (think Hunter Valley to the Riverland), it also works at altitude or low elevation – think Alpine Valleys or Adelaide hills to Murray Darling or McLaren Vale.”
“Fiano has been a hugely important variety here at Coriole, both in itself and how it has influenced our white winemaking in general. Its thick skins and loose bunches provide great protection to the warmth of McLaren Vale, and by varying canopy management we can manipulate bunch exposure to influence phenolic ripeness.”
Both families debuted a commercial release of the grape in 2005, with the Chalmers’ fruit coming from their Murray-Darling vineyard, while Coriole’s was off McLaren Vale plantings that had been established in 2001, two years after Mark Lloyd fell for the grape after a trip to Italy. And although those regions are very different, they are both warm viticultural zones, which is a signpost for the future application of the grape. The Chalmers family ended up focusing on fiano in their Heathcote site, which they purchased in 2008, but warm zones are by no means the only ones that favour the grape.
“Fiano is fantastically adaptable to soil types, climate conditions and aspects, so it has found a great home in many different regions of Australia,” says Kim Chalmers, Director at Chalmers Wines. “It is a grape-grower’s dream. It has thick skins, good bunch placement, balanced yields, great natural acidity a great open, upward growing canopy and picture-perfect bunch architecture. Its thick skins mean it has great disease resistance as well as sun protection, so it can work well in humid and hot climates (think Hunter Valley to the Riverland), it also works at altitude or low elevation – think Alpine Valleys or Adelaide hills to Murray Darling or McLaren Vale.”
The Murray-Darling is still responsible for a lot of the fiano grown, as is South Australia’s Riverland. Ashley Ratcliff’s Ricca Terra Farms is a key source of quality fiano, amongst other alternative varieties, supplying many cutting-edge makers with fruit. Ricca Terra currently have around 6 hectares of fiano amongst their 80 hectares of vines – with a solid lean towards Italian and Iberian varieties. The grape has become a key pillar in the business, and the access to fruit for thoughtful makers has played a big part in the development of different expressions. Aside from fiano’s suitability for warmer climates, the very reason why it declined in Italy is something that Ratcliff sees as a distinct advantage.
With small berries and bunches, fiano is suited to high-quality production, a self-limiting attribute that is ideal in an area of abundant sunshine like the Riverland. Unlike many growers in the region, Ratcliff has always pitched his business as a premium operation, and one built on grape varieties that don’t just survive the heat but actually thrive. As it stands, the demand for the Ricca Terra fruit, along with other progressive Riverland growers, very much outstrips supply. That’s a pretty sure sign that fiano is very much on an upward trajectory, no doubt to the surprise of Mr Belfrage!
In McLaren Vale, Mark Lloyd’s son Duncan steers the winemaking at Coriole. Alongside the phenomenal success that sangiovese has been in their portfolio, fiano has become their key white grape, even bottling a reserve alongside their shiraz and cabernet flagships. “Fiano has been a hugely important variety here at Coriole, both in itself and how it has influenced our white winemaking in general,” he says. “Its thick skins and loose bunches provide great protection to the warmth of McLaren Vale, and by varying canopy management we can manipulate bunch exposure to influence phenolic ripeness.”
Lloyd says that the natural depth of flavour and acidity in the grape are key, with his role to build texture, both through viticultural practices and in the winery, with some skin contact and the use of large format oak. “We have found fiano to be a great addition to the other white wine styles we produce from McLaren Vale,” he says. “It carries the most weight and depth of flavour with enough structure to stand up well with food.”
Today, there are plantings of fiano in many Australian regions, from the cool of the Alpine Valleys and the Adelaide Hills to the heat of McLaren Vale, Barossa, Murray-Darling, Riverina and Riverland, and it is also establishing a presence in the west, with plantings in Geographe, Margaret River, Great Southern and the decidedly hot Swan Valley.
“Fiano is working well in the Swan District,” says Garth Cliff of Vino Volta. “It has high acidity, so it gets to good ripeness without adjustments. It has nice tropical and citrussy flavour and lends itself to building texture, which we do with a little skin contact prior to fermentation, then ferment and mature with high solids in barrel.”
Cliff says that the fruit is already in high demand, with alternative varieties somewhat clamoured over in general, but he sees a distinct potential for fiano in the region, both being climate apt and producing wines of character. “The flavour is good, and it makes nicely textured wines. It has the potential for mass appeal, but we’re still really early in our exploration,” he says.
Kim Chalmers believes the potential is vast both in terms of where it can be grown and how it can be made. “It’s totally a winemaker’s grape,” she says. “We make traditional method sparkling from fiano in Heathcote with plenty of ripe fruit flavour and loads of acid, so no acid adds and no dosage. Miracle! And as for table wine, it will do anything from steely or aromatic crisp dry whites to lees-aged, textural, oak-influenced wines that drink well up to 10 years. Skin contact also works well for fiano, either short or long. Basically it can do anything. I think fiano will become a major white grape for Aussie viticulture. It just works!”
Our panel: Dr Ray Nadeson, owner and winemaker Lethbridge Estate; Isabelle Szyman, wine buyer Rathdowne Cellars; Abby Moret DipWSET, owner Atlas Vinifera; Michael Trembath, director Trembath & Taylor; James Scarcebrook, owner and winemaker Vino Intrepido; Kara Maisano DipWSET, Wine Director Masani; Iona Baker DipWSET, Trembath & Taylor. All wines were tasted blind.
It is inevitable that any discussion of a newer variety to this country will reference back to its homeland, and Trembath felt that understanding that was a critical starting point, even if that did not dictate the eventual path for local makers. “To get to our context, you need to look at the Italian context,” he said. “In Italy, off the higher elevations, they do make dry, crisp, mineral whites. Down lower, they make fuller, richer… what I might call white-Burgundy styles, wooded or not – but fiano can benefit from oak maturation and lees ageing. They can also make sweet styles, and we saw a few off-dry wines today, and some of those I thought were reasonably attractive.”
Maisano felt that while there was a sameness to some wines, that there was still a “diverse and delicious” range of styles and that they deserved their place on wine lists and retail shelves. “They’re perfect for our balmy autumn weather and classic Mediterranean cuisine,” she said. “My favourites showed signature summer stone fruits and predominantly yellow citrus aromatics, with delicate herbal flavours, minerality, and a juicy sharp acidity to the finish. …I can’t wait to see where our winemakers take fiano in the coming vintages.”
Trembath thought that the breadth of styles illustrated that makers were coming to grips with how they can make it after handling the fruit over several vintages. “I’ve judged it three times at the Alternative Varieties Wine Show, and each time, the wine that’s won has been the more steely, mineral wine,” he said. “But now people are saying let’s do something different, and some of the skins ones were interesting, too. People can sort of do with it what they will, and that was what was super interesting in the tasting today.”
“My favourites showed signature summer stone fruits and predominantly yellow citrus aromatics, with delicate herbal flavours, minerality, and a juicy sharp acidity to the finish. …I can't wait to see where our winemakers take fiano in the coming vintages.”
In 2016, Scarcebrook said that he attended the Alternative Varieties Wine Show with a particular interest in fiano and vermentino. “And they were varietal, but they didn’t have a sense of place and they were a little safe,” he said. “What was exciting for me in this tasting was that we’re starting to see that regional difference. And I was generally gravitating to the ones where people were taking a bit of a risk, letting it hang for a bit or doing something different in the winery.”
Although there were still plenty of wines made in a “clinical way”, with aromatic yeasts and cool stainless-steel ferments, Nadeson felt that these wines still had a place in the market. “But, for me, they missed what fiano is about,” he said. “The salinity, the lemon pith, honeysuckle, the more complex components need a little bit more care to highlight. There were a few wines that fitted the sauvignon blanc model and a few that fitted the chardonnay model, and there were a few wines that were trying to tell a different story. In my opinion, for what it’s worth, these options are all legitimate.”
“I thought there were a lot there to please the punters,” added Moret. “It can be a lot of different things stylistically. I think it’s a good step across from chardonnay, as it’s got the weight chardonnay drinkers want but without the oak and it has different flavour profiles as well. It’s a nice sidestep from traditional varieties.”
“I thought there were a lot there to please the punters. It can be a lot of different things stylistically. I think it’s a good step across from chardonnay, as it’s got the weight chardonnay drinkers want but without the oak and it has different flavour profiles as well. It’s a nice sidestep from traditional varieties.”
And although he acknowledged the breadth of expressions, Trembath felt we still had a way to go to establish a truly characterful identity for the grape here. “But when it’s all said and done, with only 15 years working with the variety, you’d have to assume a lot of people haven’t had it for very long, so they’re probably trying to work out what they’re doing. It’s in a state of flux, and that’s fine. There were only a few wines in there that I thought were no good. I thought that was quite successful.”
“There was quite a spectrum,” added Moret. “Some leaned into a savoury saline thing, and there were a lot with vegetal notes, and a few felt like they were trying to be a bit sauv blanc-y with a very pungent nose and that vegetal aspect – sort of a passionfruit style. Some of them were quite rich, quite over the top, and they were the styles that I’m not a fan of. But that said, there were some really lovely wines with saline notes and quite a bit of minerality, and some with really good grip on the back palate, which works especially well in the context of food.”
Nadeson noted that many of the wines would have come from fruit gown in a warm climate, and that they still generally had lovely lines of acidity. “Aside from the slightly green ones or those that had tinned corn and asparagus characters, we saw a lot of very good wines made from areas that aren’t known for making highly refined wines, and I think that’s a plus. I think some may have been picked a bit earlier, with a herbaceous green character that’s not super attractive.”
“Yes, but I think a couple the higher alcohol wines were the lesser of the group,” countered Trembath.
“Agreed,” said Nadeson, “the ones that were flabby were no fun.”
“Heading more towards that leaner, brighter style was where a lot of my top picks ended up,” added Szyman. “Green without being too green. Fresh without being too fresh. Anything that had that lovely salty green olive brine thing… For me, I saw place for those wines at my table. I still think there is a place for the fuller styles, which can give great value on a wine list, or if I’m picking something for [retail] punters who want something richer.”
“Green olive is a great descriptor,” agreed Nadeson. “Briny. A Sicilian olive in brine character. Dirty martini.”
“I see it as a varietal characteristic, but I don’t know for sure,” said Szyman.
“Potentially it’s soil, but I think the variety tends towards it anyway,” agreed Nadeson. “I’ve worked with fruit from both Heathcote and the more limestone sandy soil in Merbein [both Chalmers], and I see more of that salty green olive character in Merbein.”
“Common varietal characters are apple – green through red and golden delicious – pear, quince, honeysuckle, and it develops honey and hazelnut characters with age,” added Trembath. “The Avellino locals use hazelnut as a descriptor a lot, and I thought there were a couple of wines with a nutty hazelnut thing going on.”
“Common varietal characters are apple – green through red and golden delicious – pear, quince, honeysuckle, and it develops honey and hazelnut characters with age,” added Trembath. “The Avellino locals use hazelnut as a descriptor a lot, and I thought there were a couple of wines with a nutty hazelnut thing going on.”
“Some had roasted hazelnut, and some more a blanched almond character,” agreed Baker. “Overall, the top three wines for me were three very different expressions. My top wine was quite bees-waxy, but it really cleaned up on the palate with distinct white peach along with those saline characters, and it was a luscious round version. My second wine was a bit more restrained, a bit nutty, quite delicate and floral and a completely different expression, and I quite liked that versatility.”
“I did like a lot of clean linear and fresh wines,” said Maisano. “The herbal note for me was celery and snow pea, and I really did see a wet stone, saline minerality. I do think that is linked to the variety. My top wines were about finesse and balance, with nectarine and white peach and that wet-stone minerality coming through. I did look for a linear finish once the tasting started to unfold. In the restaurant, we’re forever asked what’s it like, and we have to pin it to a variety that is well known… And I found that I was trying to pick wines that showed that it is a standout variety on its own.”
“Quality wise, I was really happy,” added Scarcebrook. “They were all well-made wines. The wines that seemed to be from the dry inland regions had a sherbetty almost candied lime note, which I associate with getting a lot of sun. Fiano is one of those amazing varieties that shows terroir, and it holds it acidity really, really well. It is very resistant to those tougher conditions in those warmer drier areas. In those areas it grows well, and you can make really fresh styles… I think some of the more saline wines may have been due to them growing in more maritime environments.”
“Overall, I thought that there was a lot to like across the board, and there were very few unpleasant or faulty wines,” said Moret in summary. “I thought that even the simpler wines that were a bit one-dimensional would appeal to a lot of people across the board. I think it’s a variety with a lot of promise in Australia – easy to drink, easy to pronounce, what’s not to love?
Dr Ray Nadeson is the winemaker and owner of Lethbridge Wines. During a career researching and teaching neuroscience at Monash University, Nadeson founded Lethbridge Estate with his partner Maree Collis. He also managed to squeeze in a winemaking degree in his spare time. Since 2003, Nadeson has been focused solely on the estate, farming with biodynamic principles and making wine from home vines, select local vineyards and as far afield as Heathcote, the Pyrenees and Henty.
Abby Moret has been working in the retail wine industry since she was 18, including working in London for Majestic Wine, gaining her WSET Level 3 Certificate while there. She was the Promotional Manager of Vintage Cellars, before moving into buying and product development for the national chains. After gaining her WSET Diploma, Abby founded Atlas Vinifera in 2017, an independent, boutique wine bar and wine store in Richmond that specialises in small-batch, interesting, hand-crafted and cult wines from all over the world.
James Scarcebrook graduated from The University of Adelaide as a Master of Wine Business before a 16-month global wine adventure saw him visit ten wine-producing countries, including working two vintages in Germany. Scarcebrook has worked in fine-wine retail, as a representative for two leading importers, both with a focus on Italian wines, and now makes wine full-time under his Vino Intrepido label. That label is centred on Italian varieties and a quest for finding Victorian sites where they excel, teased out in a way that reflects on Italian tradition but seen through a new lens.
Isabelle Szyman is a wine buyer for leading independent retailer Rathdowne Cellars. She has worked as a sommelier at the City Wine Shop and Carlton Wine Room. Szyman has a WSET Level 3 qualification, is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and is currently undertaking the French Wine Scholar program.
Michael Trembath is one of the pioneers of importing Italian wine to Australia. After a stint working with Neil Empson in Milan in the early 1990s, he established Trembath & Taylor with Virginia Taylor in 1994. T&T is a dynamic key importer of Italian wine to this day. Trembath is a graduate of Roseworthy Agricultural College at the University of Adelaide and is one of Australia’s foremost experts on Italian wine.
Kara Maisano is the Sommelier and Wine Director for Masani in Melbourne’s Italian heartland, Carlton. Maisano is a VIA Italian Wine Ambassador, Court of Master Sommeliers Advanced Sommelier, WSET Diploma holder and WSET Certified Educator. She was the Gourmet Traveller Wine Young Sommelier of the Year for 2018.
Iona Baker is a key account manager for leading Italian wine importer Trembath & Taylor. She is an WSET Diploma holder and has worked for lengthy stints as sommelier at both St Kilda’s Stokehouse and for the Grossi Restaurant Group.
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