2021 Sting Like a Bee Fiano

The Campania region in Italy’s south-west is one of the rare regions where white and red wines are almost equal. There are several white varieties that produce outstanding quality, particularly fiano. This is now one of the most planted Italian white varieties in many regions in Australia. I was thrilled to discover that there was fiano planted in the cool-climate maritime region of the Mornington Peninsula, grown by Joe Vaughan in Tuerong. What an opportunity to be relished! Fruit was machine harvested and transferred to the winery for immediate pressing, after which all wine was fermented in a mixture of French oak barrels of differing size, then went through full malolactic fermentation. The wine was on lees until mid-October when it was racked and blended before bottling in early November 2021. There was a wine produced near Avellino back in ancient Roman times that was called Apianum that some have hypothesized was made from fiano. Apiana is latin for bees, and in this region it’s not uncommon to see bees attracted to the ripe fiano berries. This is where the name for this wine comes from, but with its high acidity and almost honeyed texture, it has a bit of sting to it.