Fiano di Avellino Villa Raiano 2024

The Fiano di Avellino from Villa Raiano finds its home on the eastern bank of the Sabato river, where the terroir is particularly suited for the production of Campanian white grape varieties. The winery, renovated about ten years ago, is highly innovative and has replaced the family oil mill that was used for the production phase of these labels. The strong territorial adherence is the great value of the Basso brothers and their brother-in-law Sibillo, who founded the winery in 1996 with the precise intent of giving voice to indigenous grape varieties, including Fiano with its troubled history.

The Fiano di Avellino represents for Villa Raiano a great opportunity for a territory particularly inclined to give us extraordinarily expressive whites. The soils where the roots of Fiano lie are clayey, particularly rich in sand and volcanic ashes. Its amber berries have a rather thick skin, which not only makes them resistant to noble rot attacks but also leads to a rather late maturation. They are therefore harvested during the first week of October and undergo a soft pressing of whole clusters. The must undergoes static decantation and selected yeasts trigger the fermentation that takes place in stainless steel tanks, as does the subsequent aging.

Villa Raiano with its Fiano di Avellino gives us a white saved from complete disappearance. This grape variety has indeed undergone a period of total abandonment, like many others in Campania just after World War II, and extinction was now a real hypothesis. Fortunately, the few remaining plants were recovered and reintegrated into local culture, escaping the danger of being replaced by international grape varieties. It is, among other things, an incredibly versatile grape, of the highest quality and with surprising longevity. This is the story told by the bright straw yellow of this glass, with its hints of loquat and lemongrass, alongside elderflower and a distant, very characteristic mineral note. On the palate, it surprises with its very pleasant freshness and good softness that accompany us on this journey through history.