Read Time: 5mins
Most white wine grapes have a relatively straightforward story. Not Fiano. This variety has been grown in the volcanic soils of southern Italy for at least two thousand years, nearly vanished in the nineteenth century, and has spent the last two decades quietly becoming the most exciting white category in McLaren Vale. It's worth understanding.
Where Fiano comes from
Fiano is native to Campania, the region around Naples in southern Italy. Its Latin name, vitis apiana, or 'grape of the bees', tells you something: bees were apparently drawn to its sweet juice in a way they weren't for other varieties. Ancient Romans grew it and considered it a fine wine grape; it appears in texts from Pliny and Columella.
The nineteenth century was hard on Fiano. Phylloxera devastated European vineyards across several decades, and when growers replanted, they tended to choose high-yielding varieties that could produce volume quickly. Fiano, which is naturally low-yielding and labour-intensive, fell out of favour across most of its original territory. By the mid-twentieth century it had almost disappeared.
The revival came from the Mastroberardino family in Avellino, in the hills east of Naples. They maintained plantings through the difficult decades and championed the variety when others had abandoned it. Fiano di Avellino received DOCG status, Italy's highest wine classification, in 2003, and the variety's reputation has grown steadily since.
What makes it different
Texture is the defining quality of Fiano, and it's what distinguishes it from the more familiar white varieties. Where Pinot Grigio can be light and almost watery, and Sauvignon Blanc leads with aromatic punch, Fiano has a kind of weight and grip that makes it feel substantial in the mouth, without being heavy. Think hazelnuts, white peach, fennel, and a mineral quality that seems to come from the soils rather than the winery.
It also ages. Most Australian white wines are made for relatively early drinking, but a well-made Fiano will develop complexity over four or five years, taking on honeyed, waxy characters while keeping its structure. If you've bought bottles and they're still in the rack, leaving them there is not a mistake.
Fiano Arrives in Australia: McLaren Vale Leads the Way
The story of Fiano in Australia starts in McLaren Vale in 2001, when Mark Lloyd at Coriole planted the first vines in the country. It took four years to get a commercial release; the first came out in 2005. The variety responded so well to McLaren Vale's climate and soils that other producers took notice. Fiano is now the fastest-growing white variety in the region.
The reason it works so well here is partly about climate. McLaren Vale sits between the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Gulf of St Vincent, with a Mediterranean climate: hot days, cooling sea breezes, and a long growing season that is remarkably similar to southern Italy and Sicily. Varieties that evolved over thousands of years in that kind of environment tend to do well here too.
Coriole's Ludo Fiano is one of the wines we carry, and it shows exactly why the variety has caught on. Pale gold, textured, with that characteristic nutty-mineral quality and enough acidity to cut through a bowl of spaghetti alle vongole. It's a food wine above almost everything else.
Lino Ramble and the broader Italian project in McLaren Vale
Coriole's early work opened a door, and other producers walked through it. Lino Ramble, founded in 2012 by winemaker Andy Coppard and Angela Townsend, built their entire range around climate-appropriate varieties from Italy, Spain, and Portugal, with a philosophy that if you're going to make wine in a Mediterranean climate, you might as well grow Mediterranean grapes.
They've produced the first Grillo in McLaren Vale (Grillo is a Sicilian white variety that thrives in heat), alongside Fiano, Nero d'Avola, and others. The thinking is practical rather than trend-driven: these varieties don't struggle in the heat the way Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc sometimes can. They're built for it.
What to drink Fiano with
The short answer: anything from the sea, anything with olive oil, and dishes with mild heat or spice.
Spaghetti alle vongole is the canonical pairing: the wine's texture and minerality match the brininess of the clams perfectly: grilled fish, prawn linguine, calamari with aioli, a simple plate of cured meats and cheese. Fiano also works surprisingly well with mild Indian curries or Thai dishes where the heat is medium rather than aggressive; the wine's weight holds up where a lighter white might get washed out.
