Donnachiara Fiano di Avellino: The Perfect Italian Campanian White Wine

Campania is one of Italy’s rich historic wine regions located in southern Italy and is home to some of Italy’s greatest wines from native grapes including Aglianico, Greco di Tufo and Fiano.  Most tourists will travel to the coastal side of Campania including the Amalfi Coast, Naples and Mt. Vesuvius.  Although if you branch out and head inland you will find the province of Avellino and today’s feature on the Donnachiara winery and the native grape, Fiano.   

Winemaking in Avellino 

Winemaking has existed in Campania since the Greeks planted vineyards there over 2,500 years ago.  Avellino is an inland, mountainous area that is situated about 1 hour east of Napoli that grows ancient grape varieties on volcanic soils, that are rich in minerals which lend structure and depth to the wines. The wine territory spans from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Apennines with the coast featuring Mediterranean climates and the more inland provinces, such as Avellino, having cooler climates with higher elevations. The grapes experience diurnal shifts, which is well suited to the white grapes of this area providing freshness and bright acidity to the wines.   

Copyright of Consorzio Irpinia Vini

Some of the top wineries of Avellino 

There are many great wineries of Avellino to include the historic producer Mastroberardino, who helped revive the native grapes of the area post WWII.  Feudi di San Gregorio, Villa Raiano and Tenuta Cavalier Pepe are additional wineries to consider along with today’s feature, Donnachiara, whom I’ve highlighted several times over the years.  Donnachiara winery is a female led winery since 2005 and is currently owned and managed today by Ilaria Petito. 

The Fiano grape 

Fiano is an ancient grape that is about 2,000 years old that faced extinction during phylloxera.  The grape’s best expression is found specifically in the territory of Avellino where it is labeled as the Fiano di Avellino DOCG if it meets the regulations to be labeled as so.  The wines are made from a minimum of 85% Fiano grapes with up to 15% Greco, Coda di Volpe Bianca and Trebbiano Toscano. 

Fiano grapes - copyright of Consorzio Vini Irpinia 

Fiano is a mid to late ripening grape that is an aromatic, floral grape that shows nice purity of fruit with elegance and structure. It has a medium to full body wine showing tropical fruits, citrus, pear, apple and some possible almond, hazelnut or honeyed notes. 

The Wine Selection - Donnachiara

The 2019 Donnachiara Fiano di Avellino DOCG was straw colored and quite flavorful with lush tropical and tangerine notes on the palate.  This wine is fuller bodied, well-balanced with a richer mouthfeel and slight tanginess.  These wines can be enjoyed within 3-5 years, but as these wines age they take on a nutty character and richer texture. 

You can find many Donnachiara and a variety of Fiano wines on Wine.com to try.  I may receive compensation for any wines purchased through the affiliate link in support of Vino Travels.

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*This wine was provided as a sample, but opinions are always my own.

A Glimpse into the Wines of Campania

The wines of Campania are a great choice any time of year and especially during the holidays.  There is a beautiful array of wine selections throughout the region made predominantly of red wines from the Aglianico grape, but also a great white wine selection primarily found from the Fiano, Greco and Falanghina grapes.    

I've been meaning to write about an online seminar I attended that gave an overview of the Campania wine region led by Master of Wine, Justin Martindale, and Andrea Erby.  Let’s take a birds eye view of the Campanian wine region and it’s many native grapes. 

You may have been to Campania without really even knowing it.  If you’ve been to the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Naples, Avellino, Caserta or Salerno then check Campania off your list.  The real question is whether you indulged and visited its abundant vineyards.  The Campania wine region hosts a number of wine appellations with 4 DOCGs, 15 DOCs and 10 IGPs across 63,000 acres of vineyards found throughout the region.   

Faraglioni Rocks in Capri

The beginnings of viticulture in Campania 

The viticulture of Campania had many influences in its development starting with the Greek Hellenic culture followed by the Etruscans. Southern Italy was the center of the Magna Grecia, Great Greece, that as instrumental in the development of viticulture.  During the Risorgimento in 1861 there was a mass emigration where many of the vineyards were abandoned.  Today exists a generation of producers that are turning the wine industry around in Campania working with local grape varietals and producing unique wines on this ancient volcanic terroir.  

The Landscape of Campania 

The terrain of Campania is predominantly made up of hills and mountains with only about 15% of the land covered in plains.  As one can imagine there are many high elevations that reach upwards of 2,000+ feet above sea level.   

If you’re familiar with the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD that forever changed the landscape of the terrain, it’s no surprise that the soils are made up of various volcanic matter including ash, rock as well as sand deposits.  Along with Vesuvius, there is also a history of volcanic activity from Campi Flegrei and the island of Ischia. 

Main wine regions and grapes of Campania 

Some of the main wine areas to try are the following: 

• Taurasi DOCG 
• Aglianico del Taburno 
• Fiano di Avellino DOCG 
• Greco di Tufo DOCG 
• Campi Flegrei DOC 
• Vesuvio DOC 

The Irpinia wine subregion hosts 3 of the 4 DOCG of the Campanian wine region: Taurasi DOCG, Fiano di Avellino DOCG, and Greco di Tufo DOCG.  The Taurasi DOCG was the first in southern Italy.  Primarily focused on the Aglianico grape, this appellation owes many thanks to known Antonio Mastroberardino, whom preserved the ancient, ungrafted Aglianico vines to keep native varieties in this area.  You may want to compare the Aglianico of Taurasi against the other Campania DOCG focused on this grape, Aglianico del Taburno.   

Aglianico grapes - sourced from Consorzio Tutela Vini Irpinia

As the names Fiano di Avellino and Greco di Tufo suggest, these appellations are focused on the respective grapes, Fiano and Greco.  Fiano is a grape that is subdued in its youth showing notes of pear and citrus, but with age these wines take on a new profile of honey with a tinge of smokiness.  Greco shows more complex fruit up front and is structured with a grippy mouthfeel.  As Greco wines age they become more nutty and tend to be oxidative.  Both of these whites have great capacity to age.  

Fiano grapes - sourced from Consorzio Tutela Vini Irpinia

The Campi Flegrei DOC is located west of Naples, Italy’s 3rd most populated city.  The name, Campi Flegrei, derives from ancient Greek translating to burning fields.  The wines to try from the Campi Flegrei DOC include the Campanian native white, Falanghina, and the native red, Piedirosso.  Some of the suggested producers from the webinar include Contrada Solandra, La Sibilla, Cantine Astroni and Salvatore Martusciello. 

Greco di Tufo grapes - sourced from Consorzio Tutela Vini Irpinia

The Vesuvio DOC is located in a circle around the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius.  As one would imagine from the explosion at Mt. Vesuvius, the topsoil of this area is covered in volcanic ash and lava. Within the Vesuvio DOC sits the subdesignation of Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio.  You will also see Piedirosso produced here for reds along with Aglianico and Sciascinoso.  For the whites there is Coda di Volpe, Verdeca, Greco and Falanghina to discover.  Some suggested producers are Cantine Villa Dora, Casa Setaro, Cantine Matrone and Bosco de Medici. 

A very old picture of me at the Mastroberardino vineyards inside the ruins of Pompeii

If Campania is a wine region that is newer to you, I strongly suggest exploring these wines and native grapes in the new year.  These wines are some of the best in Italy. 

If you're familiar with the wines of Campania wines, what have been some of your favorites that you’ve discovered?

Campania's wine appellations - Copyright of Federdoc

Check out some of the wines of Campania on Wine.com.  Vino Travels may receive compensation for any purchases made to support the operations of this website.

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A Unique Blend at Masseria Amastuola of Puglia

Puglia’s history is known for producing bulk table wine that was sold to the rest of Europe and even Northern Italy.  Even though this still happens today, Puglia has focused on their quality and really established itself as a major player in today’s wine market.  Today it ranks in the top 3 regions throughout all of Italy for producing the largest amount of wine.  If you’re not familiar with the region, Puglia is located in southeastern Italy forming the heel of the boot.  It’s one of the few regions I have yet to visit, but is top of my list for when I eventually return there.  We can all dream at this point with everything going on in the US. 

The Winery ~ Cantine Amastuola 

Today I’m featuring Cantine Amastuola.  About 690 feet above sea level in Crispiano at the heart of Puglia’s Valle d’Itria, the property occupies about 420 acres planted to vines and olive trees surrounded by stone walls. The masseria, or farmhouse, where Amastuola resides was built in the 15th century.   Throughout history is has fallen under a couple different, but since 2003 it is owned by the Montanaro family of Massafra, also known as the Kikau Group. 

Copyright of Masseria Amastuola

The Wine 

Although Puglia is dominated by red wines by about 70%, today I’m sharing a white wine from Amastuola, 2017 Calaprice IGP.   It was interesting to sample a wine made primarily from international grapes as a small percentage is produced in the region and the Fiano grape that makes up a small percentage of the blend is a native grape of the Campania region.  This is an organic wine made of 50% Chardonnay, 45% Sauvignon Blanc and 5% Fiano.  Made in stainless steel it’s a medium-bodied wine with notes of apple and tropical fruits backed by good acidity.  Personally, the Chardonnay showed up mostly on the palette for me so if you’re a fan of stainless Chardonnay it’s worth trying out this interesting blend.  ABV 13.5% 

If you need an excuse to visit Puglia, from the pictures of Amastuola’s site it looks like quite a beautiful wine resort to stay at.

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*This wine was provided as a sample, but opinions are all my own. Imported by Mariposa Fine Wines.

Welcoming Autumn with the Campanian Wines of Mastroberardino

This was my last week of maternity leave and I was fortunate to attend at least one wine event so far this fall at the Winebow's Vintner's Harvest wine tasting sampling over 50+ Italian wines in the Boston area. To say the least I was in heaven and could've spent all day there. 

This month's Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) group is celebrating fall in Italy, which leaves a lot open for interpretation. I wanted share with you today the wines of a very well respected producer in the region of Campania, Mastroberardino. As we travel into the cooler weather here in the Boston area I wanted to highlight the reds specifically of Mastroberardino as we start to warm ourselves up with sweaters, prepare our pots for soups and roasts and of course a glass of hearty red wines.

Copyright of Federdoc

Established in the mid 18^th century the ancient headquarters of Mastroberardino are located in the town of Atripada within Irpinia. Today the winery is led by Piero Mastroberardino whom is the 10^th generation of the Mastroberardino family. Out of the 4 DOCG's of Campania, they are producing grapes in 3 of them including Taurasi, Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino.

Mt. Vesuvius from within the ancient ruins of Pompeii

When I traveled to Pompeii years ago I came across some of the vineyards of Mastroberardino within the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Not knowing much at the time, I have come to learn these are the vines of Villa dei Misteri. This vines were established in the early 90's as a project between Mastroberardino and the Soprintendenza Archeologica of Pompeii. 

“The aim of the project is to investigate methods and techniques of viticulture and winemaking in ancient Pompeii, as well as to reproduce important phases of the ancient process on experimental basis”, according to the winery. 

If you've never traveled the ancient ruins of Pompeii it has always been one of my favorites. To witness how many aspects of ancient times are still in tact from artifacts, to paintings on the wall, humans solidified in ash, and carvings on the floors, it's astounding that they're growing vines on ancient soils there.

The 5 wines of Mastroberardino I sampled are:

• 2009 Mastroberardino Campania Aglianico (Aglianico)
• 2013 Mastroberardino Fiano di Avellino Radici (Fiano)
• 2008 Mastroberardino Radici Taurasi (Aglianico)
• 2014 Mastroberardino Campania Greco Maestro (Greco)
• 2014 Mastroberardino Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso (Piedirosso)

It was hard to just select one when I enjoyed almost all of them, but the one that stood out the most was the 2008 Mastroberardino Radici Taurasi. A runner up for it's value was the 2014 Mastroberardino Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso and for white the Fiano di Avellino is a pleasure. The grapes that make up these wines above: aglianico, giano, greco, piedirosso and others are some of the top indigenous wines of Campania.

The aglianico grape is the dominating red grape of Campania and peaks in the wines of Taurasi, named after the town of which it originates within the Avellino province. The 2008 Mastroberardino Radici Taurasi is made 100% from the aglianico grape, which is the top red of grape of Campania and Basilicata. This wine is a full bodied, complex wine that is well structured and rich in dark fruit. It's aged 2 years in French and Slavonian oak and an additional 2 years in the bottle. ABV 14%. SRP $67 (wine.com).

I'd love to dive deeper into the wines of Mastroberardino and even better tour the winery facilities upon my next venture over. Have you experienced these wines or any of these grapes and what were your thoughts on the wines of Campania?

Check out the rest of my fellow bloggers as they share their version of Fall in Italy.  If you're catching this in time you can join us for a live chat on Twitter Saturday October 1st @ 11am EST #ItalianFWT.  Join us next month on November 5th as we share "Unique Towns of Italy" via food, wine or travel. 

Mike from Undiscovered Italy writes about the Montefalco Vendemmia Festival
Martin from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog prepares Caprese Stuffed Roasted Eggplant and 2013 Josetta Saffirio Barbera d’Alba #ItalianFWT
Gwendolyn from Wine Predator presents Easy Fall Fun Flavorful Food with Italian Wines from a Castle
Jeff from FoodWineClick gives us his Top 5 Reasons to Visit Piemonte in the Fall
Michelle from Rockin Red Blog is Celebrating Italian Harvest with #ItalianFWT
Camilla from Culinary Adventures with Camilla makes Truffles, a Whole Fish, & Barolo

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Campania's Volcanic Wines with Fratelli Urciuolo

This month for our ItalianFWT (Italian Food, Wine & Travel) monthly group is exploring volcanic wines and food or travel to the regions of Campania and Sicily (also volcanic wine producing regions). After hearing about this month's topic I immediately though southern Italy and more specifically Campania. Today I'm taking you to the region of Campania, which I've mentioned before is where my dad's side of the family is from. I have yet to go to his home town of Candida in the village of Avellino, but I will make it there some day. Especially since Avellino in particular makes some fantastic wines. I'm always intrigued by wines that are grown on volcanic soil and the characteristics that they impart into the wines.

Avellino is in a part of Campania known as Irpinia that is known for producing many of the DOCG wines of the region including Fiano, Greco di Tufo and Taurasi (made of aglianico). The fiano grape that I'm sharing today is also known as vitis apiana stemming from the word apia for bees known for it's sweetness that the bees are attracted to. Fiano is a grape known for it's aromatics and nuttiness, although I didn't pick up nutiness in my particular bottle that I'm sharing with you today, but it's beautiful bouquet showed lovely in the glass. I tasted the 2013 Fratelli Uriuolo Monte Faliesi Fiano di Avellino.

Wine map of Campania copyright of Federdoc

Fratelli Urciuolo began in 1996 by two brothers, Antonello and Ciro Uricuiolo. There was very good knowledge of what the soil was composed of as within the Uricuiolo family there had been generations that had planted chestnut trees and knew the soils well. There are traces of volcanic ash and clay within the soil of the land they own. Antonello's drive to go learn to become a winemaker at the university triggered him and his brother to make their father's dream of winemaking a reality.

The brothers produce about 50% of their own production that's hand harvested and the rest come from local growers. They are situated in the town of Forino about an hour south of Naples, but they have other vineyard sites as well. They started growing the fiano grape and have increased their production to include the other popular grapes of Campania: greco, falanghina and aglianico.

The 2013 Fratelli Urciuolo Monte Faliesi Fiano di Avellino DOCG is a straw color with a golden hue. On the nose are lemon, banana and minerals. It's a dry, medium to full bodied wine that has a creamy texture with good acidity and a little saltiness. It's a persistent and well-balanced wine that has the potential to age well. It retails about $20. This Fiano di Avellino has been awarded the Tre Bicchieri award a number of times as well as their Taurasi wines.

Have you tried the wines of Campania and have any favorites?

The #ItalianFWT Crew Presents...

• Scorched Terroir and Explosive Wines by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Irpinia is the New Tuscany by Feast on History
• Etna Rosso: Wine from the Slopes of an Active Volcano by FoodWineClick
• A Beginners Guide to Volcanic Wines by L'Occasion
• Soave Wine Erupting with Flavor by Rockin Red Blog
• Sicily's Scorched Earth Wines at Gambino Winery by TheWining Hour
• Crazy Good Wines on Mount Etna by Undiscovered Italy
• Campania Food & Wine ABC's: Favorites by Vineyard Adventures

Information sourced from Opici Wines.

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