![Fiano grapes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Fiano_grapes.jpg)
Fiano is a white
Italian wine
Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the world's largest producer of wine, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, and contributing a 2013–2017 annual average of 48.3 million hl of wine. In 2018 Italy accounted for ...
grape variety
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species including those unimportant to agriculture, see Viti ...
that is grown primarily in the
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
region of southern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and on the island of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. In Campania, this fairly strong flavored white wine grape is particularly noted around
Avellino
Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...
where the ''
Denominazione di origine controllata e Garantita
The following four classifications of wine constitute the Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine:
* ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; English: “designation of origin”),
* ''Indicazione geografica tipic ...
'' (DOCG) wine of Fiano di Avellino is produced.
[Berry Bros. & Rudd - Fiano Grape Variety](_blank)
. The grape has a long history in the Campanian region and is believed to have been the grape behind the
ancient Roman wine
Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the history of wine. The earliest influences on the viticulture of the Italian peninsula can be traced to ancient Greeks and the Etruscans. The rise of the Roman Empire saw both technological advances in and ...
''Apianum''. Even today, the name ''Apianum'' is permitted to appear on
wine labels
Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...
of the DOCG wine Fiano di Avellino.
Outside of Italy, several
Australian wine
The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...
producers have begun to use the grape. Production seems to be increasing, although the number of
vineyard
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
s growing it is still small.
[Vinodiversity - Fiano Grape](_blank)
One place of production is in the
McLaren Vale
McLaren Vale is a wine region in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area and centred on the town of McLaren Vale about south of the Adelaide city centre. It is internationally renowned for the win ...
wine region of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
and in the
Hunter Valley wine
The Hunter Valley is one of Australia's wine regions. Located in the state of New South Wales and first cultivated in the early 19th century, it was one of the first Australian wine regions.Johnson, Hugh, and Jancis Robinson. The World Atlas of ...
region of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. More recently, some winemakers in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
are producing Fiano in the
La Rioja
La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N ...
district, north of
Mendoza.
Beyond its strong flavors and intense
aroma notes, the Fiano grapevine is noted
viticulturally for the relatively low
yields it produces.
History
Ampelographers and wine historians consider Fiano a "classical vine" of southern Italy that likely has its origins in
ancient Roman viticulture and perhaps may have even been cultivated by the
ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cultu ...
before them. Wine writer
Jancis Robinson
Jancis Mary Robinson OBE, ComMA, MW (born 22 April 1950) is a British wine critic, journalist and wine writer. She currently writes a weekly column for the ''Financial Times'', and writes for her website JancisRobinson.com, updated daily. She ...
notes that some historians speculate that Fiano may have been the grape behind the Roman wine ''Apianum'' that was produced in the hills above Avellino.
[J. Robinson ''Vines, Grapes & Wines'', p. 242. Mitchell Beazley 1986 .] The wine was produced by a grape known to the Romans as ''vitis apiana'', with the root of ''apiana'' being the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
for
bees
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...
. Even today bees are strongly attracted to sugary pulp of Fiano grapes and are a prevalent sight in the vineyards around Avellino.
[V. Hazan ''Italian Wine'', pp. 208-209. Random House Publishing, 1982 .]
The small, thick-skinned berries of Fiano usually produce very little juice and, given the vines natural propensity for low yields, can make Fiano an unprofitable variety to grow. It was for reasons such as this that Fiano saw significant declines for most of the 19th and 20th century as growers uprooted the grape in favor of varieties like
Trebbiano and
Sangiovese
Sangiovese (, also , , ) is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin ''sanguis Jovis'', "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Lazio (the most widespread grape i ...
that could yield larger amounts of wine.
However, in recent years, the variety has enjoyed an uptick in interest as southern Italian wine regions see an influx of investment in the modernization of
winemaking
Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...
techniques and equipment, as well as a desire to revitalize
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
and classical varieties.
[J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes'', p. 70. Oxford University Press 1996 .]
Wine regions
The Fiano grape is most closely associated with the Campanian DOCG wine of ''Fiano di Avellino''. Nearing extinction in the later half of the 20th century, interest in the variety, spearheaded by producers such as
Mastroberardino
Mastroberardino is an Italian winery located in Atripalda, in Provincia di Avellino, in the Campania region. Founded in 1878, the winery is known for its production of Taurasi DOCG as well as its ampelography work in identifying and preserving ...
, saw a renaissance of planting around Avellino. Some of the most notable plantings of Fiano are found in
hazelnut
The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...
plantations around Avellino with wine tasters such as Jancis Robinson noting that the wines produced from these grapes can have a slight hazelnut flavor to them.
In 2003, the area around Avellino received DOCG status for the Fiano-based wine produced. For the Fiano di Avellino DOCG, at least 85% of the wine must be made from Fiano with
Greco
Greco may refer to:
People
* Greco (surname), a list of people with this surname
* a masculine variant of Greca (given name), an Italian feminine given name
* Greco Mafia clan, one of the most influential Mafia clans in Sicily and Calabria
Wine ...
,
Coda di Volpe and
Trebbiano permitted to round out the remainder of the blend. Grapes destined for this DOCG wine must be limited to a maximum
harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
yield of 10
tonnes
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United States ...
/
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
and
fermented
Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In food ...
to a minimum
alcohol level
Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as ABV, abv, or alc/vol) is a standard measure of how much alcohol (ethanol) is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage (expressed as a volume percent). It is defined as the number of millilitres (mL) o ...
of 11.5%. Italian
wine laws Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine, a ...
allow for producers to use the name Apianum along with the Fiano di Avellino DOCG designation to show the modern wine's connection with the historical Roman wine.
[P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pp. 124-205 Firefly Books 2004 .]
Other DOC wines
The following is a list of DOC wines, beyond Fiano di Avellino, that include Fiano as a permitted grape variety, along with other grapes that may be included in the blend under varying percentages that are regulated under the DOC/G label. The wines of which Fiano must account for a majority of the blend are in bold.
*
Aversa DOC-Primarily
Asprinio
Asprinio bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety grown primarily in southwest Italy around the Naples region of Campania. It is currently not believed to be related to the similarly named French wine grape of the Languedoc region, Aspiran. In ...
, with up to 15% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Campi Flegrei DOC - Primarily
Falanghina
Falanghina, also called Falanghina Greco, is a variety of wine grape, ''Vitis vinifera,'' used for white wines. It is an ancient grape variety which may have provided a basis for the classical Falernian wine, and has considerable character.winep ...
,
Biancolella
Biancolella is a white Italian wine grape variety grown primarily in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is a permitted grape in a few Campanian ''Denominazione di origine controllata
The following four classifications of wine constitute ...
and
Coda di Volpe with up to 30% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Castel San Lorenzo DOC - Primarily
Trebbiano and
Malvasia
Malvasia (, also known as Malvazia) is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. I ...
with up to 20% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties
*
Cilento DOC
Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important tourist area of southern Italy.
Cilento is known as one of the centers of Mediterranean diet.
Geography
The co ...
- Must contain between 60-65% Fiano with 20-30% Trebbiano, 10-15%
Greco
Greco may refer to:
People
* Greco (surname), a list of people with this surname
* a masculine variant of Greca (given name), an Italian feminine given name
* Greco Mafia clan, one of the most influential Mafia clans in Sicily and Calabria
Wine ...
and/or Malvasia and up to 10% of other local grape varieties.
*
Costa d'Amalfi DOC - Primarily Falanghina and Biancolella with up to 40% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Galluccio DOC - Primarily Falanghina with up to 30% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Guardiolo DOC- Primarily Falanghina with up to 30% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Ischia DOC - Primarily
Forastera
Forastera is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown on the islands of Ischia and Procida off the coast of Naples in Campania. In the early 21st century, DNA analysis confirmed that the Spanish wine grape variety of Forastera (Spanish gr ...
, Biancolella and
San Lunardo with up to 15% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Locorotondo DOC
Locorotondo ( Barese: ) is a town and municipality of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy, with a population of about 14,000. It is situated between Martina Franca and Alberobello in the Valle d'Itria, a green stretch of countr ...
- Primarily
Verdeca
Verdeca is a white Italian wine grape variety that is primarily grown in Apulia in southern Italy where ampelographers believe that the grape may have originated. In Apulia, it is one of the main grapes in the ''Denominazione di origine contro ...
and
Bianco d'Alessano
''Bianco d'Alessano'' is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Apulia region of southern Italy, where it is often blended with Verdeca. In the early 21st century, the grape was planted in the South Australian wine region of River ...
with up to 5% permitted to be Fiano,
Bombino bianco
Bombino bianco is a white Italian wine grape variety planted primarily along Italy's Adriatic coast line, most notably in Apulia. The vine is prone to high yields and often produces neutral flavor wines.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's Wine ...
and/or Malvasia.
*
Martina Franca DOC
Martina Franca, or just Martina ( Martinese: ), is a town and ''municipality'' in the province of Taranto, Apulia, Italy. It is the second most populated town of the province after Taranto, and has a population (2016) of 49,086. Since 1975, ...
- Primarily Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano with up to 5% permitted to be Fiano, Bombino bianco and/or Malvasia.
*
Monreale DOC
Monreale (; ; Sicilian: ''Murriali'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy. It is located on the slope of Monte Caputo, overlooking the very fertile valley called ''"La Conca d'oro"'' (the Gold ...
- Primarily
Catarratto
Catarratto is a white Italian wine grape planted primarily in Sicily where it is the most widely planted grape. Catarratto can make full bodied wines with lemon notes.J. Robinson: ''Jancis Robinson's Wine Course'' Third Edition, p. 101. Abbevill ...
,
Ansonica and
Inzolia with up to 50% permitted to Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Penisola Sorrentina DOC - Primarily Falanghina, Biancolella and Greco with up to 40% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Sannio DOC
Samnium ( it, Sannio) is a Latin exonym for a region of Southern Italy anciently inhabited by the Samnites. Their own endonyms were ''Safinim'' for the country (attested in one inscription and one coin legend) and ''Safineis'' for the The ...
- Primarily Trebbiano with up to 50% permitted to be Fiano,
Samnium-Aglianico,
Moscato, Coda di Volpe, Falanghina and Greco.
*
Sant'Ágata dei Goti DOC - Primarily Falanghina and Greco with up to 20% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Solopaca DOC - Primarily Trebbiano, Malvasia, Coda di Volpe with up to 10% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
*
Taburno DOC - Primarily Trebbiano and Falanghina with up to 30% permitted to be Fiano and/or other local white grape varieties.
Wine styles
![Fiano Salento wine](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Fiano_Salento_wine.jpg)
According to Jancis Robinson, Fiano can produce an
ageworthy wine that has the potential to develop in the bottle for several years after the
vintage
Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...
date. In its youth Fiano is often intensely flavored and aromatic with honey notes that over time develop more spicy and nutty notes. The advent of modern winemaking techniques with its emphasis on limiting
oxidation
Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...
and preserving freshness, have improved the overall quality of Fiano wines over the years. However, some producers that still practice more traditional winemaking techniques can still produce wines that come across as
heavy
Heavy may refer to:
Measures
* Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight
* Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight
* Heavy, ...
and be prone to
premature oxidation.
In the opinion of wine expert
Oz Clarke
Robert Owen Clarke (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster.
Early life
Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up Roman ...
, well made examples of Fiano from favorable vintages should have a fair amount of weight on the palate with a floral aroma and notes of honey and spice with the potential to continue improving with bottle age.
[Oz Clarke & M. Rand ''Encyclopedia of Grapes'', p. 89. Webster International Publishers .]
The Italian wine Fiano di Avellino is often characterized as a pale straw colored wine with strong aromas of spice and floral notes. On the palate, those aroma notes are often present along with honey and nutty hazelnut notes.
Synonyms
Over the years Fiano and its wines have been known under various
synonyms
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
including Apiana, Apiano, Fiana, Fiano di Avellino, Fiore Mendillo, Foiano, Latina Bianca, Latina Bianca di Barletta, Latino, Latino Bianco, Minutola, Minutolo, and Santa Sofia.
See also
*
List of Italian grape varieties
References
Supplemental references used for chart
*J. Robinson, J. Harding and J. Vouillamoz ''Wine Grapes - A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavours'' pgs XXVIII-XXX Allen Lane 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itali ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiano (Grape)
White wine grape varieties
Wine grapes of Campania