2022 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 on a cold morning, then transferred to the winery for press and settling. 100% of the juice was spontaneous fermented in three two-year-old French oak puncheons. After fermentation was complete the wine completed malolactic fermentation and rested on lees in two of the puncheons with the balance in a mature barrique until mid-Spring when it was racked and blended before bottling unfined and unfiltered in November 2022. 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.