Fiano is an ancient white grape of Campania in southern Italy and the source of Fiano di Avellino, often considered the south's greatest white wine. It makes textured, aromatic whites with pear, hazelnut, honey and a smoky mineral edge, and unusually for an Italian white, its best wines improve for a decade or more.
Fiano has been grown in Campania since antiquity. A traditional story links its name to the Latin vitis apiana, the "vine of the bees", because bees were drawn to its sweet grapes. By the mid-twentieth century it had almost disappeared, and it was a handful of producers in Irpinia, notably Mastroberardino, who kept it alive and showed its quality. Today it is grown well beyond Campania.
Young Fiano di Avellino is fresh and floral, with a mineral bite. After three to ten years it develops honey, nuts, beeswax and a smoky complexity that recalls mature white Burgundy or Riesling. Puglian Fiano is softer and fruitier, made for drinking young.
Start with a Fiano di Avellino DOCG from a well-known producer such as Mastroberardino, Feudi di San Gregorio, Villa Raiano, Pietracupa or Ciro Picariello. If you can, buy two bottles and keep one for five years to see how it changes. For an easy, inexpensive alternative, try a Fiano from the Salento.
Fiano shares the Irpinian hills with Greco, the grape of Greco di Tufo, and the red Aglianico. Read our best Fiano wines and the Italian white wine guide, or browse the grape varieties index.