Fiano di Avellino DOCG

Before I get into the translation, I just want to mention that I don't like Italian tasting notes. I feel a blog post coming on, but I'll save that for later so that you don't accuse me of editorializing when I said that I wouldn't. Because the descriptors in the text do not convey the complexity of a good Fiano di Avellino, I have to add that I always found an intriguing herbaceous note in the wine reminding me of the pine forests that surround the area. In addition to citrus, there is typically a pronounced minerality. They can also be slightly nutty at times, but only the special ones. Just like us.

Text below translated from: del Canuto, Francesco et al., Il vino italiano, panorama vitivinicolo attraverso le denominazioni di origine, Associazione Italiana Sommeliers (Bertani & C.), Milano, 2010 (2002), fourth edition.

Recognized as a DOCG 8/5/03

Photo from newsposi.it

Production Zone: including the townships of Aiello del Sabato, Atripalda, Avellino, Candida, Capriglia Irpina, Cesinali, Contrada, Forino, Grottolella, Lapio, Manocalzati, Montefredane, Mercogliano, Montefalcione, Monforte Irpino, Ospedaletto d'Alpinolo, Parolise, Pratola Serra, Salza Irpina, San Michele di Serino, San Potito Ultra, Santa Lucia di Serino, Sant'Angelo a Scala, Santo Stefano del Sole, Sorbo Serpico and Summonte, all in the province of Avellino.

Yield: max 10 tons per hectare

Grape Varieties: fiano; also permitted up to 15%: greco bianco, coda di volpe, and/or trebbiano toscano

Minimum alcohol: 11.5%

Aging Potential: 1-4 years

Mention of APIANUM is permitted on the label as a reference to the origins of the grape name.**

Fiano di Avellino, taken from the eponymous grape variety, is one of the most distinguished wines of Campania. With time, the wine acquires depth and softness. Fiano is pale in color with an intense nose of fruit. Its balanced notes of citrus and acidity pair well with dishes such as spaghetti with fresh anchovies, grilled fish, seafood stew, baked fish, pizza, and calzones.

Some producers are late-harvesting as well as creating passitos, some are even using grapes affected with botrytis. These are still rare, but very interesting.

Sparkling wines made from Fiano using the Martinotti (Charmat) method are pleasant and zippy, and are perfect as an aperitif.

**It is commonly believed that the original name for Fiano was Apianum, derived from Vitis Apiana, which was a reference to the high sugar level of the grapes and the bees' attraction to them. (Ape, pronounced "AH-pay" is the Italian word for bee, derived from the Latin "Apis.") Vitigni d'Italia disputes this, claiming that the actual origin of the word is from Appiano which was a variety of apple grown in Apia (now Lapia) near Avellino. B'oh!

Campania

Just a quick preface: When I begin each region, there will be a map (click on the map to get a better view) with an introduction listing red/white varieties commonly found, plus a list of DOCGs, DOCs, and IGTs. I will do straight translations without (but no promises) editorializing. Just the facts, signora.

Then, I will probably dedicate one post per appellation within the region. It should be straightforward. Here we begin with Campania because I lived there. I am not following the order of the book, but will stick to and finish a region once begun. Here we go! Now it's time to let my inner nerd wear its headgear in public.

Grape Varieties Suited for Cultivation in Campania

White grapes (among the most widely cultivated): falanghina, malvasia bianca di Candia, trebbiano Toscano, coda di volpe bianca, greco, asprinio bianco, biancolella, and malvasia bianca. Others: bellone, bombino bianco, chardonnay, fenile, forastera, ginestra, guarnaccia, montonico bianco, moscato bianco, pallagrello bianco, pepella, pinot bianco, riesling, riesling italico, ripolo, san lunardo, sylvaner verde, veltliner, and verdeca.
Grey**/Pink Grapes: pinot grigio and traminer aromatico
Red grapes (among the most widely cultivated): aglianico, barbera, sangiovese, piedirosso, montepulciano, merlot, greco nero, primitivo, and ciliegiolo. Others: aglianicone, aleatico, cabernet sauvignon, casavecchia, cesanese comune, lambrusco maestri, malvasia nera, pallagrello nero, pinot nero, sciascinoso, tronto, and uva di troia

The Wines of Campania
DOCG: Fiano di Avellino, Greco di Tufo, Taurasi
DOC: Aglianico del Taburno and Taburno, Aversa, Campi Flegrei, Capri, Castel San Lorenzo, Cilento, Costa d'Amalfi, Falerno del Massico, Galluccio, Guardia Sanframondi or Guardiolo, Irpinia, Ischia, Penisola Sorrentina, Sannio, Sant'Agata de' Goti or Sant'Agata dei Goti, Solopaca, Vesuvio
IGT: Beneventano, Campania, Colli di Salerno, Dugenta, Epomeo, Paestum, Pompeiano, Roccamonfina, Terre di Volturno

Del Canuto, Francesco et al., Il vino italiano, panorama vitivinicolo attraverso le denominazioni di origine, Associazione Italiana Sommeliers (Bertani & C.), Milano, 2010 (2002), fourth edition.

**In Italian, as well as other romance languages, red grapes can be referred to as black. So it is common to refer to "in between" grapes as grey as well as pink. For example, pinot grigio/gris (grey pinot) is named as such because its grapes have a brownish-pink skin.

Coming Up Next

Il Vino Italiano: An Overview of Vineyards and Wine Through its Appellations (volume 2A)
Il Vino Italiano: Grape Varieties, Wine Descriptors, and Regional Gastronomy (volume 2B)

I have waited some time for these two books. My husband bought them for me for my birthday and I squealed like a 'tween when I opened the box from Italy.

These are the texts that accompany the 2nd level of the AIS (Associazione Italiana Sommelier) certification course. I took the first level in Naples in October and November of 2006, which were to be immediately followed by the 2nd course in December. In true Italian fashion, however, it was delayed. They started it up just as I was going home to Texas for my yearly extended visit in March, so I never got to finish.

I made a friend in the class, Lucia, who owned a "prodotti tipici" (local products) shop on the main street in Ischia Porto. She continued on with the course and upon my return, let me borrow the two books for a couple of months. What I discovered was a valuable reference source of all(-ish**) of the DOCGs, DOCs, and IGTs of Italy. Within each region's section was a complete list its appellations with all of the rules governing them (production zone, max yield, varieties, etc) along with a blurb about the wine. This was volume 2B.

2A had a list of all of the common grape varieties, their production zones, synonyms, historical notes and characteristics.

Fascinating, right...?

I surrendered the books to their proper owner, finished the Summer and Fall in Ischia, and returned home to Texas for good. (This is the part where I eventually met the DoBianchi of my dreams. He is practically an encyclopedia himself, wrapped in a casing of handsome, but I am determined to find something between these bindings that he doesn't know.)

I searched for the books in Italy, America, and the great wide Internets. The AIS site did not even have them for sale! Nor did anyone else for that matter.

Then one day this September, I decided I wouldn't let my grapeless search discourage me. I sat down and finally found them!! Jeremy P ordered them from an online Italian bookstore and here we are. (Jeremy is the brave one here, as I fear for the safe arrival of anything shipped from an Italian website.)

Did I mention that the entire course is in Italiano? Why wouldn't it be? But that's not a problem. I am going to translate it (mostly) for you because I NEED A PROJECT! And it will help me scour the rust off of my Italian.

So here starts my series. This is not for the easily bored, nor overly-critical. I just hope to spread the cheer that I experience by having access to this kind of information.

Buona lettura!

**So, calling any list of Italian DOCs and DOCGs "complete" can be a dubious declaration. The fact that different sources site different appellations and new ones come out all of the time lend to the confusion. To save the day, our friend, the Italian Wine Guy, has taken it as his duty to research and publish the most up-to-date and comprehensive list out there. Thanks Alfonso! That being said, the book that I am translating is in its fourth edition and was published this year (2010). Please see IWG's site for the latest news.