The last time we offered a Fiano di Avellino, I proclaimed Fiano to be one of Italy’s noblest white grapes, ranking it in my “top five” alongside Friulano (Friuli), Carricante (Sicily), Verdicchio (Marche), and Vermentino (Liguria, Sardinia). We got some emails from people who took issue with those picks, but in the end, that’s a good thing: At least people have begun to recognize the nuance and skyrocketing quality of Italian white wine, instead of painting the entire category with a single broad brush (something many sommeliers are still guilty of, by the way).
Fiano deserves to be singled out as something special among the hundreds of native whites growing on the Italian peninsula, and Tenuta Scuotto’s 2019 is a timely reminder. Today’s offer is a too-infrequent appearance by a white that should be in everyone’s regular rotation, alongside the likes of Grüner Veltliner, Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño, and Riesling. The pedigree is undeniable, the food-pairing options are myriad, and the price is right. Get some of this on your table now!
Fiano is part of a trio of fresh, mineral whites—the others being Falanghina and Greco—native to the southern Italian region of Campania. This is Italy’s ancient cradle of viticulture, the place the Greeks named oenotria and where Roman-era chroniclers like Columella and Pliny the Elder first cataloged the best-performing wine grapes in the region. Although Fiano is grown throughout Campania, including coastal areas like Cilento, the preferred terroir for the variety is Irpinia, a cool, hilly district about 50 kilometers east of Naples. Irpinia’s dimensions correspond roughly to those of the modern-day province of Avellino, within which are key wine towns like Taurasi, Tufo, and of course its capital city, which lends its name to the DOCG designation for Fiano.
The soils in the Fiano di Avellino catchment area are a mix of volcanic material (nearby Tufo, home of Greco di Tufo, is so named for its abundance of volcanic “tuff”) along with clay, sand, and limestone. The vineyards climb up the thickly wooded foothills of the Apennine Mountains, enabling producers to preserve freshness in their whites: Although we tend to associate taut, un-oaked whites with more northerly growing zones, Campania has long made such wines its calling card (along with powerhouse reds from the Aglianico grape).
Eduardo Scuotto and his son, Adolfo, founded Tenuta Scuotto in 2009 and have focused exclusively on the traditional varieties of the region: Fiano, Greco, Falanghina, and Aglianico. Whether today’s 2019 serves as an introduction or a reminder, it is a spot-on representation of the varietal character of Fiano: aromatic, mineral, and textured. In the glass, it displays a deep yellow/gold hue and bursts forth with aromas of yellow peach, acacia honey, wild green herbs, citrus, and a hint of smoke. It’s an expressive, textured wine, not as exotic or viscous as Viognier but hinting in that direction, and it finishes on a crisp, citrusy note. Enjoy it now and over the next few years with seafood pastas, grilled whole fish, fried calamari, and the like. It’s a white wine essential! Cheers!
