Picariello

In January of 2011 Fabio Cimmino, a Neapolitan expert on the wines of Campania, conducted a seminar on the wines of his region for our visiting group. The most interesting wines were the Fianos from Avellino: three examples from different producers, all between five and fifteen years old. It turns out that Fiano ages very well, showing some of the same bottle-age characteristics as Loire Chenin Blanc (beeswax and lavender honey, for example)*. The best of the Fianos we tasted with Fabio was a ten-year-old Fiano di Avellino from Ciro Picariello, a producer near the village of Summonte; after a very successful visit to the estate, we are now importing these wonderful wines. Campania is now my favorite white wine region of Italy, and Picariello is one of the reasons.

Ciro's vineyards are about equally divided between Montefredane (1,600 feet above sea level) and Summonte (2,100 feet). The Fiano grapes are picked in late October, very late for white wine, and given a clean but minimal treatment in the cellar; slow pressing with only the first press fraction used in the DOCG Fiano; no yeasts are added, the gross lees are removed shortly before the fermentation finishes (the wine is allowed to go completely dry), then the wine is kept in tank on the fine lees until the end of the following summer, when it is bottled. Use of SO2 is minimal; the wine is not filtered or fined. This is an extremely 'natural' and therefore risky winemaking process for a white wine, but Ciro knows what he's doing, and every vintage I have tasted is both expressive and clean.

When young, Picariello's Fianos are lively, minerally and bracing, redolent of apple, white peach and hazelnut, with a strong flinty character (part of his vineyards are in volcanic soil). I am certainly drinking the '09 with food now, but you would not be making a mistake if you put a few bottles of the Avellino in the cellar. The Irpinia Fiano is a second selection and shows

✦ Small producer specializing in Fiano di Avellino; 20 acres of vyds
✦ Vineyards are in Summonte (2,100 feet) and Montefredane (1,600 feet), exposed to the south; low yields & low-key but very clean winemaking
✦ DOCG Fiano di Avellino is one of the best examples of the appellation; the younger vines are used to make a DOC Irpinia Fiano

essentially the same characteristics as the DOCG but with less dramatic mineral and stony notes, perfect for current drinking.

* Most well-known Italian white wines don't age very well, but there are some exceptions, including some of my favorites: Gavi, white wines from Etna and Vesuvius, and Fiano.

PicarielloTechSheet.pdf www.ciropicariello.com

Fiano DOC Irpinia

A declassified version of Fiano di Avellino from estate-bottled fruit, this base level Fiano is perfect for immediate drinking and by-the-glass.

Fiano di Avellino DOCG

Fiano di Avellino is one of Italy's best white wines, made from the Fiano variety near the town of Avellino in the region of Campania. Ciro Picariello practices very natural grapegrowing and winemaking, yet his wines are completely clean and expressive which isn’t always a given with natural winemaking. The wine shows vivid, distinctive aromas and flavors of almond, herbs, citrus, and an enticing smokey/struck flint character from volcanic soil.