Your Next Lesson: Fiano

I’ve never had a Fiano, but it turns out to have been my WS friend’s favorite, so I opened all 3 last night and served with our Memorial Day “urban bbq” of sautéed shrimp in garlic and olive, charred-smokey broccoli, mixed olives, vinegary butter beans, sun dried tomatoes and other antipasto. Frankly, I had mixed feelings.. didn’t love any of them, fairly enjoyed Graci and Kratos. I found Gaia very strange, and as much as Marta seemed to enjoy it with food, I truly disliked it.. almost as nearly as Fino Sherry (I’m sorry, Eric..) Marta thought Gaia was a wonderful match for the food, especially dark, briny olives and other flavorful, even vinegary dishes, including a rescued, day-old salad in Italian herb vinaigrette. The wine reminded me of a Georgian and Slovakian wine aged in qvevri, large pottery vessels used for the fermentation. Cloudy, unpolished amber in color (if you grew up on the Baltic Sea, you know what I’m describing), savory-sweet, and briny at the same time - it tasted (and appeared) as unfiltered apple cider. It was complex, brooding, and hard to swallow on its own - it was either true to its long tradition in wine-making and its roots or it stood as a piece of obscure art. Today, I enjoyed Graci and Kratos more - Graci for its freshness, accessible citrus flavors and simplicity - a perfect wine for the summer (reminded me of a SB). Kratos for its minerality, lingering finish and “warmth,” and a honey-kissed taste - delicious to sip on its own.

With the same dish (Shrimp Scampi and lemony Roast Broccoli) we enjoyed the Ciro Picariello. I got an herbal smell, minerality, little fizz, and a hazelnut like bitter finish. I was looking for what might distinguish this wine from other Fianos de Avellino (Irpinia). It did not have the roundness of the Kratos which I learned is from a different area (Cilento, closer to the sea). My wife found it apple-y, but there is something else. I didn’t agree on that but we both found the wine classic, clean and well assorted.

The Maffini Cilento did not seem to have a very big nose but did offer a lot of body in the flavor. It was dry and acidic with hints of fruit. It matched well with the shrimp and avocado crostini. Both made each other better. We all loved the Picariello Irpinia. Our first taste was a crisp, honeysuckle yet savory flavor. The minerality paired well with the lightly smoked Scottish salmon salad serve with it. This wine went well with all three dishes we served and it was our favorite. I termed the experience of this wine, “focused simplicity’” The Giardino Gaia was dark with a cloudy haze. The viscosity reminded me of a dessert wine. It was barely sweet with hints of flowers. When served with a spinach and corn ravioli the pairing did not work. As usual, our class at wine school always had at least one offering we were glad to experience and look forward to more. George Erdle, Harper’s Fine Dining Charlotte, NC

Last fiano post. Promise. Strange wine, that Gaia. Kinda like it. [Geek alert: Reminded me of a chalky, orange, Alto Adige nosiola I once had. Any skin contact in the fermentation?] Gaia’s first and most initially striking impression was its thick cloudiness, unlike any other fiano I’ve come across. Color was rosy apricot, and weirdly, so too was its aroma. Taste seemed mostly peach and brine, with a bit of citrus. Paired it Thursday night with a simple shrimp scampi and oily, garlic-sautéed broccoli. Warm and sweet, the wine did very poorly with the shrimp—too sweet. Cooler, and more minerally tasting, it went ok, no better. With the broccoli, though, whether served cool or warm, it did stunningly well. No oiliness in the Gaia, instead it had a mouthfilling chalky quality that, along with its light, fresh acidity, balanced beautifully and with the oily, dark greens. Night 2, the wine started out peachy, as it had the night before (random, and poor, pairing was a roast pork tenderloin). Later in the meal I caught up to Ferguson’s “good honey” flavor description (nice!), and later still, there, plain as day, was Martin’s “apple” and “apple cider.” Night 4, I got herby botanicals. But, back to the beginning, as Martin also said: “strange wine”!

I wrangled some friends into tasting the Graci Etna 16 and a Villa Raiano Fiano Alimata 13 side by side with some creamy French cheeses and Corsican dried sausage and it very much highlighted the similarities and differences, yet the vintages may have been a factor, not sure really. The Etna was sweet out of the gate and more viscous, new world but restrained chardonnay was the comparison we made with rich mineral and smokey notes, sticky white fruits and citrus dominating. The Raiano fiano was more lean, even linear at first yet still sweet but with earthy notes (mushrooms, hay, flinty) and we felt it had a riesling quality. For two of us, the fiano was just too funky but the other two loved the rustic charm with the sharp/sweet fruits. Both wines had an underlying and appealing minerality and a range of warm fruits but the primary differences were in the mouthfeel (thicker-Etna/leaner but still weighty fiano) and the more or less appreciated terroir of the fiano.

8 day old post, resubmitted. Apologies if it turns up twice (and for all the bandwidth). I, too, am greatly enjoying this month’s class. For comparison, I threw in a ringer, the 2014 Fonzone fiano. It’s a cheap “special retailer import” (do those ever work out? Not in my experience). Had it a couple weeks ago next to the Kratos, and then, two nights later, next to the 2014 Mastroberardino Radici. The F was not bad: lively and lemony. But what it lacked put a spotlight on what the other two did have: a dark and heavy and oily side. One online poster called fiano “a weight wine.” Some seem, at times, to combine a light and bright energy—what the F had tons of—with a distinctive, oily, mouthfilling quality, especially cold. Checking old notes, I got glimpses of that light-heaviness in Eric’s recommended Colli di Lapio, San Gregorio and Terredora, plus a couple others, too. Served the MR decanted and cool—it seemed more complex than Joseph’s take on Mastroberardino’s other Fd’A—and paired it with a silly fun, turkey-made caprese burger tinyurl.com/y7wqlzp2 (the tastes were mostly just tomato, cheese and pesto). The MR’s vibrancy and oiliness were a joy; so “swigable.” A burny parmesan-baked fennel tinyurl.com/y97pzwrd paired even better (with the MR), but emphatically not with the lively, one-note F. Which explains to me why some fiano fennel pairings have been amazing, some, awful. The awful were all with livey-only fianos. The livey-and-heavys did just fine.

I am sitting at a trattoria in Napoli, and am drinking a Fiano di Avelloni from something called I Ricordi. It has very small but non-zero bubbles that quickly disappear. Surely not a wine comparable to others on this list but any comments on the bubbles?

Saturday night we had a 2016 Ciro Picariello Irpinia with David T’s spring herb-and-garden pasta-palooza tinyurl.com/yawtgzm4 (scallions and garlic subbed for garlic scapes). Gave it a 3 hour decant, and a 30-minutes-out-of-the-fridge chill, a strategy that has worked well for a few of this month’s wines. Maybe not the best plan for the CPI? The 2-y-o wine was two or three years younger than any other I’ve tried this month, and more enjoyable for its chalky, candied lemony freshness than for its subtlety. It was also the month’s only Irpinia. Next morning, rereading Eric’s comments on Irpinia aglianicos—that they are more accessible, with less depth and complexity than other Campania aglianicos—that seemed to fit the CPI, too. I got hints of herbiness, but so faint under the dominant lemon flavor. And late, late, late in the meal, I got a lovely briny aroma; in fairness, the very un-sea-like pairing may have masked some of that before. But like Ferguson, I’ve found all these fianos have improved on nights 2, 3 and more. The shocker Saturday night was a cheap, and 6-days-opened-in-the-fridge 2014 Fonzone fiano. It’d been horsey and one-note on night 1; now it was blossoming. Compared to the CPI, it was more minerally, less lemony, more complex and more delicious. Its melon flavor, not enjoyable at first, was now lovely, and a nice pepperiness had emerged. Will some age benefit the CPI too? Eric’s comments suggest no. Nor did it much improve after 2 days in the fridge.

I can't believe I missed this when you posted it, Eric! You are SO talking my language. I LOVE Fiano! Was introduced to it long ago now, when I was still living in Boston and and a couple of Mastroberardinos came to Cirace's wine store to do a tasting. A few years later, when Doug Fletcher was sill making the wines at Chimney Rock, he gifted me a bottle of "Fiano de Chimney Rock" he had made for himself... It's a grape that makes really delicious wines. Now I'm off to find the ones you mentioned here.

We enjoyed the 2016 Fiano Kratos with Melissa Clark’s Shrimp Scampi. First, I got the smell of roasted nuts. There was a slight fizz, and some nutty sharpness. The wine felt very clean, round, viscous, soft, and minerally. Somehow I thought of strolling through a forest full of songbirds. There was just the resonating idea of stone fruit in this wine, almost like a shadow or a ghost. We thought the wine paired nicely with the bright tasting Shrimp Scampi and Dan’s favorite lemony roast broccoli (my kids love that dish so much it was almost gone by the time I got to it, thanks for sharing the recipe Dan!).

We purchased a three pack from Flatiron including Ciro Picariello's Fiano di Avellino DOCG instead of the Irpinia Fiano. We enjoyed them over several nights with Gabriel Hamilton's swordfish piccata, Melissa Clark's spinach risotto and David Tanis's summer pasta with zucchini, ricotta and basil. The wines went well with each and would seem companionable with a variety of foods. Yes, the wines share qualities in common with last month's Etna Biancos. Mathematically they are on the same line but closer to the origin, smoother and perhaps better to serve to a guest whose taste you are unsure of. Savory or Fruity: we both thought that the wines were both. The fruit wasn't sweet, more lemon and melon and the minerality and herbal flavors contributed to the savoriness. Texture - smooth right away but as the wine sat out you could feel the acidity. The second and third nights we enjoyed them even more. Our particular favorite was the Gaia. There was a hint of honey, good savory, herbal honey, not generic clover honey. The label on the Gaia is quite pretty, too.

After 5 days vacu-vin’d, a sip of last week’s 2013 Kratos—uninspiring on day 1—hinted at an intriguing dark side that seemed to merit one more try. Opened a ’14 Sunday night, and decanted an hour, to go with Eric’s and Martin’s suggested tomato sauce (David T’s tinyurl.com/yc4prglq , cooked thicker and less fresh then the recipe), and with my own fakakta pairing hunch, a simple caramelized citrus fennel recipe tinyurl.com/y8rh3u77 (cooked to near burnt; yum). The K’s mouthfeel was a mix of oily/thick/sleek and bright/acidic/tingly that, together in one sip, was pretty astonishing. It was more the former when cool from the fridge, more the latter at room temp, and in between, pretty much whatever you dialed it in to. Tastes changed too, with the room temp sweeter and citrusy-er, more fun-loving, while the cool revealed its dark, funky, sour, minerally (ashy?), apple-y side, mature and mysterious. I loved how the two contrasting profiles, both taste and texture, played back and forth. The warmer, brighter had its charms. It lightened up the rich tomato sauce in a surprising, lemony way. Doesn’t really seem like that’s what you’d want for a tomato sauce, but it was fresh and fun. The cooler, darker version, however, stole the show, matching up near perfectly with the fennel/onion/orange dish. Both wine and caramelized food had bitter and sweet, and both had raspy-citrus and oily-sleek textures. I’ll gladly pour a Kratos again to go with its new bff, finocchio alla fakakta.

We enjoyed the Gaia 2016 with Mark Bittman’s Seared Halibut With Anchovies, Capers And Garlic https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/10603-seared-halibut-with-anchovies-... . The wine was yellow, unclear, unfiltered and reminded me of apples, cider, apple cider, even apple cider vinegar. The food tamed the wine, made it less acidic and turned it into something like baked apple pie with herbal features and of course, then you could tell it was a Fiano, that signature nut bitterness. Awesome dish, strange wine, maybe that’s what wine tasted like in the days of Greek colonization?

We enjoyed the 2016 Mastroberardino Fiano Radici with Florence Fabricant’s Mussels in Broth with Matcha https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1013618-mussels-in-broth-with-matcha . This dish was a trip. It highlighted the elegant nut-bitterness of the wine. There was modest fruit between peach and grapefruit, white flowers, good minerality, and a lingering carbonation surfing my palate in waves . The wine seems to hijack the matcha green tea note and claim it as its own. Again the wine was clean but more adventurous than Feudi. It made me feel like being on an island beach.

We started this week with the 2017 Fiano di Avellino Pietracalda Feudi di San Gregorio. It was brisk and zippy upon opening with a viscose, lingering mouthfeel that was a surprise match with crisp green apple and lemon zest notes, again present was the background smokiness but with a bit more warmth than the Ciro. Nose is floral but muted when cold. As it warmed with steamed artichokes the fume’ pronounced itself as the defining characteristic backed by honeysuckle and fine minerality, more white fruits advanced as the citrus/green apple retreated. Not as complex as the Ciro but again, lovely and thoroughly enjoyable. The next night we tried something different, Campania Bianco IGT "Fiagre" 2016 - Antonio Caggiano 70% fiano and 30% greco di tufo. This was sweeter than the other 100% fiano wines and had a richer, golden color compared to the paler Ciro, San Gregorio and Mastrobernadino . It still had many of the qualities of the other wines, but a more subdued profile. Smokey, mineral, honey, fruit argumes and white flowers and a persistent finish but more herbal and earthy. I know nothing of the greco di tufo, am left wondering if the sweeter nature and earthy notes are due to its presence. An enjoyable wine once again and the slightly sweet nature held up nicely with a garlic heavy pesto risotto. Two more to go, the Gaia 2014 Cantina Giardino and a bottle of Alimata 2013 Villa Raiano, really enjoying these wines a great deal.

Our Toronto foursome gathered last Saturday night to taste a couple of Fianos. To accompany we had a meal of Halibut with Angel Hair Pasta, Arrabiata Sauce, Rocket and Parmesan, delicious. The first wine was Janare Fiona, 2016. To nose we found citrus, fresh pineapple and some minerality, very refreshing. So fruity than savoury. But in the mouth, quite honeyed, almost sweet. It matched beautifully with the halibut and arriabata sauce. The second wine was Naso Contadino Fiano from Puglia Igt. This was different from the Janare. To nose, apple (Granny Smith not Gala), pears, apricot and again some minerality. It was lighter not as heavy in the mouth. One of our foursome found lemon zest in the mouth. It was certainly drier in the mouth. We agreed it was another wine discovered, thanks to Wine School, and one we would drink again. Interestingly, I found it the other day on a restaurant menu, presented as a dessert wine.

Thought I’d start with the wine mentioned as the producer who saved this grape from obscurity (Fiano di Avellino Mastrobernadino 17) I found it simple but pleasing and much nicer on the warmer side, cold it was harsh, tight and disjointed with not much but grass and chalk notes but after 45 minutes it was floral, teasing with white fruits and smokey (like a Pouilly-Fumé lite) and went well a soft Saint-Félicien followed by poached salmon with capers. Followed up tonight with the Ciro Picariello (2017 was what I could find) and found it much fresher, fuller and more complex than the Mastrobernadino with charming acidity, fume’ backbone (again) and depth of fruit. I prefered it on the cooler side since the acidity was really playful and lost it’s infuence as it warmed, perfect with shrimp scampi (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/9101-classic-shrimp-scampi) Again, context seems important as it was a warm and wonderful evening here as the improving weather seems to be good therapy for the harsh winter and spring we have had, the wine was like an old friend who came to town and brought cheer and warmth back into our home.

Good Morning: Liked the first Fiano so much, decided to try another. The salesman confided that he did not like the varietal, but did mention something new--the Fianos of Colli di Salerno differ significantly from those of Campania. Therefore purchased La Capranera 2016 Campania (the Costacielo came from CdS). Served it with almost no chill alongside an improvised pasta salad with langoustine tails, avocado, zucchini, red onion and burrata in a lime, basil and parsley vinaigrette. Music: a live performance by Khruangbin on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4xKvHANqjk). Even the color differed: brilliant pale straw gold. Nose: lemon, orange, steely, mineral. Taste: very slight spritz, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, very steely and mineral, floral, fig. Very high acid compared with the Costacielo, mouth filling, even longer finish. Also a little salty. Less fruity than the Costacielo, but more non-fruit components. Complemented the pasta salad by contrasting with it: creamy salad vs. tart wine, herbal vs. citrus, sweet vs. acidic. The two wines did prove quite different. If you find La Capranera, expect to pay $20-23, including sales tax. But as with the Costacielo, if you do find it, please consider yourself fortunate.

Unlike Etna Bianco's, which are (at times) grown on much younger soils of an active volcano, these Fiano's from Campania have a much more ancient flavor. They taste of the wisdom of a dormant volcano, the kind of depth that you find in Campania, where it seems the Greek roots never dissipated. I love Fiano for how it can express the minerality, fresh fruit, but also have that honeysuckle aspect. I recently had the fortune of trying a vertical of Kratos and the Pietraincatenata. Kratos, meaning "strength" in its Greek origins, was fresh and lively in the 2017 vintage. The 2016 was fresh but a bit rounder, the 2013 was pretty and the 2010 was mindblowing. It exhibited baked apple pie, nuts, and honey - a wine that was only aged in stainless steel but I'd like to see in another 5-7 years!

I’ve tried about two mixed cases of fiano over the last 5 years and, beyond knowing I like it, the wine remains an enigma. My favorite has been the Colli di Lapio and, after too long away, I revisited the 2013 Tuesday night, with, for comparison, a bit of 4-day-old 2013 Kratos and a 4-year-old Argiolas vermentino. Dinner was a nutty, fishy, herby, lemony pasta tinyurl.com/pnend6z and house lemony roast broccoli tinyurl.com/yc79g38x . Given last month’s EBs, I warmed the CdL to room temp. It was crisp apple sweet on the attack and chalky tart on the finish. Nice on its own, but too sweet for tuna. 15 minutes in the fridge made it chalkier (ashier?), less sweet, and way more delicious with food. Wowzers, I like this wine. It seems simple, but there’s a lot going on. Wine’s apple and food’s walnut went well. My drop of remaining K came straight from the fridge, a late addition. Cold ’n old, it had a sleek, bitter earthy, minerally, nutty charm that I’d totally missed on day one when it was warmer. Very nice with the broccoli. I’ve wondered before about the differences between fiano and vermentino. After a side-by-side, the vermentino (near room temp) was fruitier—horsey, even—with loud apple and lemon on the nose, and a big taste of melon that did not complement this meal.

We enjoyed the Feudi di San Gregorio Fiano di Avellino 2015 with Martha Rose Shulman’s Baked Halibut With Tomato Caper Sauce ( https://tinyurl.com/ybq93a8x ). First this wine reminded of a Muscadet. It was very clean had soft-spoken floral, and aromatic flavors, blending in a very mellow fruit note (peach?) with time in the glass flavors of honeysuckle and lemon drop were developing then a honey-nut like finish. I think compared to a Muscadet the flavors here are not as distributed (like streams running over a meadow), they are joining together to form a beautiful shape, like an antique statue. My wife describes this as an ideal porch wine, the perfect wine to sip on a beautiful spring day like this. A wine thats good in early spring and still good when it warms up to ambient temperature she said. As I measured 62 F inside the glass the wine was still refreshing, fascinating, classic and elegant. The wine went very well with the fish and the tomato sauce. For me it was the first time I realized tomato sauce goes well with white wine.

Good Evening: San Francisco--the city of a million small pleasures. The Artist's Garret got too warm (cooking a vegan chili for my next salon), so retreated to the fire escape overlooking Haight Street. The weather, possibly unique to this city, felt warm enough that one couple walked up the street with ice cream cones, yet cool enough that two women following 50 feet behind them nursed coffees. Six small pleasures in one paragraph. None of the 3 recommendations seem available here, so tried the Asparagus Frittata by David Tanis (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/dining/asparagus-frittata-recipe.html) with buttermilk toast and--great news!--the first farmers market cherries of the year. Wine: Giffone Valle Plana "Costacielo" Colli di Salerno 2015. Music: Andres Segovia on solo guitar. Five small pleasures. Color: pale yellow. Nose: grapefruit, orange peel, mineral, peach, steely, melon. Taste: same as above, plus lemon, grassy, even salty (!). Good acid, harmonious, long finish. Complex yet delicate, savory yet fruity. One big small pleasure. If you find the Costacielo ("coast sky?"), expect to pay about $22. Don't serve cold. The Segovia was perfect for the menu, weather and wine. Grassy and citrus qualities in the wine made for a good fit with the eggs, asparagus and cheese. The Fiano even tasted well with the cherries, a harmony of opposites. Perfect day, time, music, wine and food for relaxing, but must get back to work--making a cherry sorbet for the salon.

More than a few of my all-time best-ever pairings have involved fianos, but the Kratos, which I tried once before, a couple years ago, with swordfish, olives and an anchovy sauce, and then on the next night with salmon, was not one of them. I described it then as lean and hard. I suspect it was too cold. Saturday night I revisited that 2013 K, this time with trout two ways (simple lime sauce tinyurl.com/yb69oxwh and gremolata tinyurl.com/y7d8m2rk ), and with my standby lime-dressed broccoli. The wine was 45 minutes out of the fridge as we sat down. Again, too cold. But even near room temp, it remained an ungenerous partner to all of the night’s citrus-y foods. Serviceable, but no more. Ian d’Agata says fianos vary widely, from light-bodied to full-, dry to sweet. And Eric has in the past described the K, from warmer, more coastal vineyards as “richer and rounder” than more traditional fianos di Avellino. Maybe that should have been a clue to pair it with some of the richer and sweeter, less citrusy, more fennel-y seafood dishes that have shone well with other fianos (above all David T’s pasta con sarde tinyurl.com/ybxh7jcy ). Or maybe the 5-y-o K was past prime, though other 5 and 6-y-o fianos have been delicious. One in particular that I can’t wait to retry is Eric’s recommended Colli di Lapio. Another that I’m afraid I may never try again is Feudi di San Gregorio’s Campanaro, a stunning, rich and, at 5-y-o, honied fiano/greco di Tufo bland that I no longer see available.