Ep. 2047 Falanghina, Fiano, Frappato by Susannah Gold | Italian Grape Geek

Who wants to be the next Italian wine Ambassador? Join an exclusive network of four hundred Italian wine ambassadors across forty eight countries. Vineetly International Academy is coming to Chicago on October nineteenth is twenty first. And Walmatikazakhstan from November sixteenth to eighteenth. Don't miss out. Register now at Vineetri dot com. Hi. I'm back. It's Susanna Gold, and Today's grape varieties are different than the ones that we spoke about last week, which is super exciting. And again, nothing excites me more than talking about Italian grape varieties. And the ones that we're gonna talk about today are some of my favorites, Alright. Let's do it. Let's talk about Falingina. Falingina is a white grape variety that comes from Campania. It is one of the three most widely known grape varieties that come from Pania, the other two are Fianu Greco. Falangina is said to have come to Italy in, around seven hundred BC through Greece. It was first mentioned in, like, eighteen twenty five. So super, super historic it is used in many, many DOC wines and some DOCG wines all through a companion. I can name some of them, the campus Lelegre, guardiola, the peninsula of Tarantino, Santa Agata, the so it is a lively white grape variety and has great body. Beautiful color, it's floral and fruity on the palette on the nose. I've always found that it has a lot of stupidity or salinity, whichever word we wanna use. There are some great examples of Felangina that are available, I think, all over the world. Felangina is super historic it's said to have been a blend of a wine that was drunk in ancient Rome. So you may know that in ancient Rome, that sort of Patricians or the noble class of Romans drank wines, not from Rome, but from Campania. So one of the wines that they drank was called Valerne, Valerne, and it was made in Campania. And apparently, Falangina or the ancestor of Falangina is said to have been part of the origin of, you know, one of the grape varieties that were used to make this wine. Of course, the wine at that time didn't taste anything like what we are drinking today. There are different versions of Falangina, meaning different clones, one of the most famous is, Palangina Benavine Parma, which comes from Benaventa, which is in the province of Sano. The Sanyo is a place where much of the Falangina that we drink is comes from. There are really two varieties. So there's Falenvina bit of internal, and there's Falenvina pligres. So from those two different areas in Campania, from the san, you and the Camp pligres, which is closer to Naples, Farrangina likes volcanic soils and enjoys the warm Mediterranean air and the breeze, which we find in Kanconia. The sanja as a region is very hilly, and wines there have great acidity thanks to their elevation. I wanna just mention before I talk about some other producers, the contribution that the Musili family made to the growth of Valentina. So in nineteen seventy nine, Leonardo Musili, followed the very first single variety, Valentina, Capania. Since that time, when the variety was almost extinct, the variety has exploded in the Sano. And so there are many, many thousands of hectares of Valentina today as opposed to the seventy five hectares when was duly started. I've had many Falanginos in my lifetime, and I plan to have a lot more. It's a great variety that I love. I think it's a great variety that is an easy one to bring Italian drinkers to Italian white wines because it's both fruity and fresh and approachable, but it also can be an experience for kind of more adventurous and more seasoned tasters. For example, I consider myself in that category. And I thought that I've had a lot of Salangina, and it was one of the very first white grape varieties from Campania that I tasted. I had a friend who used to import, wines from Campagne, and he introduced me to a bunch of producers, including Terrace Progate, with a winery that I really like from the sano that makes delicious Falangina, and I had tasted them, and I I know their importer in New York, and I tasted it in the Campania pavilion, which is also always an exciting place to visit when you're at Vineetili. At the time, I remember the time when I was chasing my first filangina, they had olive trees growing from the ceiling, and it was just a really exciting moment for me. Tasting those wines. Recently, two weeks ago, I was at Phoenixpo in New York, and I met a producer that I know, and I tasted his fellow Vina. So I have met him. His name is Alebiro Rillo. He's actually the president of the consortium of the Sanju, and I just saw him in New York, and I tasted his file in Gina from his family winery, which is called Fontana Vaca, which I have never tasted before. So Fontana Vaca was built by the Willow family, and they've been throwing wines for, you know, a couple of, generations, many, in fact, and they are in the province of, Benavantano. And so Niguro works with his brother and his dad. I was amazed the depth and profundity of these wines. So I think of Valentina as an easier drinking wine, but he also showed me a reserve Valentina, which had so much depth and persistence and length on the palette, that it was really exciting because I thought, oh, look, you know, you think you know a great variety, and then you discover that there are many different iterations of this great variety. So it was very excited to me. It was deeper in color. It was bolder. It was longer. It had crazy minerality and acidity. So I really think that Valentina, together with Fiano and Greco, or three of the Italian grape varieties that actually can age, you should buy a you know, a six pack and drink some now and put others away and see how it evolves over time. I've had that same experience with another producer who makes it wonderful, well, she hasn't made for her in Valentinibenaventano. I love her Galangina, it's just amazing, especially with Chime. So I think it's a a real interesting, great variety to try in its and iterations, whether you want the approachable version or some that has some oak and some aging on it, and see, you know, which version speaks to you. And I am sure one of them will because it's a beautiful, beautiful, white grape variety from Campania that should definitely be on your radar. Campania is one of the most exciting regions in Italy, and that is both for it's history and the depth of producers and experiences that one can have in Campania, which is of course the site of Pompeii in Naples, the Regit de Casasse, and all these amazing historical places you can visit, but it also is home to three of Italy's best white grape varieties, and also home to amazing red grape varieties. But for now, I'm talking about a white grape variety, which is probably of the three main grape varieties in Campania, the one that I think is considered to be the one with the longest edge ability. Many people when they think of Italian whites don't necessarily think that they're wines that you can lay down, you know, they're not that game, Pordeaux, but I totally disagree with that view. So Piano Devilino is a wine that you can drink today, and it's also a wine that you can drink in ten years. I've had aged fiano that can really knock your socks off. So what is fiano? Fiano is a white grape variety from Campania. It's called fiano bianco. It's an ancient variety. That has existed since Roman times, and it comes from the area around Elino. I first had piano, thanks to a friend of mine, when I lived my first Years in Italy, I lived in Florence, and one of my friends was from Emilino, and he was a very courteous guy. Yeah. The people from that area of Italy can be very chivalrous. And I think that's the same way that I think of grape varieties. Like, I think of fiano as a chivalrous, important, elegant grape variety. Fiano does its best in volcanic soil it produces these wines that are really ethereal, and they have this amazing, distinct minerality, acidity, and great aromas and flavors of fruit and flowers and nuts. Usually is made into a dry wine, but it can also be made into a late harvest wine or a sweet wine. As I mentioned, I love sweet wine. So the more I conduct that sweet wine, the happier I am, Piano is also said to be the wine of the bees because bees love piano. At piano is, the way it was sort of termed in in Rome, and so the wine of the bees meaning a wine that bees want to eat and it's, you know, sweet. Not the wine, but the grape variety itself. Piano grows in Caprina, as I mentioned, you can also find Piano Inpulia. It's not Piano Delino. It's Piano in general. There's Piano. Poria, there's Purno. Diavelino. In Campania, there's other piano in Campania, but the most famous version of piano is from Avelino, which is the province in Erpina, is the name of the area. Avelino is the name of the town. This white grape variety, you can either find it on its own, so a hundred percent piano, or it can be blended with other grape varieties. When it's blended, you'll usually see it blended with which is another great variety from Campania, possibly Prabiano Tuscano, or Cola de Volfre, which is another indigenous variety that grows from Campania. Piano Devilino became a DLCG in two thousand and three. So it's been a DSG for a long time. So what will you find when you're drinking piano? You'll find an amazingly lovely wine. I have worked often with a producer whose name is Ili Acetito from Dona Kiara. And she is very, very specialized in making wines from Piano Delanino. And we have done numerous tastings together, through the years. I met Ilearia in two thousand twelve when she was looking for an importer, when Dimitale was doing a first tour, when actually Italy opened its doors in New York. So kind of a historic moment, and we did this crazy big event, and I met Ilaria in two thousand twelve, and she found her importer. And so it's been twelve years that I've known her and done many, many tastings with her, of her wines. And the fiano is the one that always takes people's breath away. And we have done ones where we've used, historic piano. We've had more modern piano. We've had piano that's only aged in steel. We've had piano that's aged in Oak. And it just every time people are really blown away, by this beautiful, beautiful, great variety. And so Vienna to me is one of the most elegant varieties that the people should should try. I think it's one of the varieties to lay down. And I think that you will definitely not be disappointed. The first time I tried Ganno was not with Eladia. It was at that same tasting that I did with my friend who used to own importing company in New York, it was really basically focused on bringing in wines from Kompania. And I remember sitting in a booth, and I was trying this white wine, and a tear started rolling down my face. And I thought I'm ridiculous. I'm actually crying over the beauty of this white wine. And I found out that I was tasting a piano. So it's a wine that I've always really loved and thought that would be one that I would like to keep and lay down. What I would suggest eating and drinking with fiano can be a whole host of different things. So a lighter fiano, a more recent one you could have with pasta or seafood or salmon But a heavier, more aged piano, such as many that I have had. We did a a lunch with Ilaria, to get the part of the, a nice restaurant in New York that is very specialized in making food from Campania. We were celebrating actually Thanksgiving. So we did a Thanksgiving pairing, and Thiano is a perfect great variety to pair with Thanksgiving Foods, with your turkey, with your ham, with your sides at Thanksgiving. So just a really beautiful, great variety that I think will match a lot of the different plates that might be at your table. I love saying that word. Such a fun name. So Toronto is a great, great variety, and it comes from Sicily. So if you haven't been to Sicily yet, you have such a treat and store. Everything about Sicily is exciting, including all of its indigenous grape variety. So you have probably come across different grape varieties in your experience with Sicily. And I'm sure some of them have been growing up, Edna, or maybe Nero Davala was the very first one that you have tried. But I can bet that when you get to Farakoto, you're never gonna go back. So why do I say that with such and of security, uncertainty. It's because Farpato is a super exciting red grape varieties. It's one of those grape varieties that I think can be put under the idea of red grape varieties that are lighter red grape varieties that can be eaten with white meat, with pasta, with pizza, as a Epitivo, with a heavier meal, with seafood, with meat, and game, kind of the whole spectrum, but it is a red grape variety that is in the kind of lighter red wine. Oh, I mean, I hate the chillable phrase, but it is a wine that, you know, with a slight chill on a you could also have it, you could have it with barbecue, you could have it in this summer. Remember, it comes from Sicily. So this is a hot climate where people are used to heat, and the summer, and they're, you know, they don't only eat light food, and they do drink a lot of line. You may have come across Fracato in your Chastings. If you've ever had something called Sherazuolo de Victoria. Sherazuolo de Victoria is a denomination that Regenay contrula from Sicily. Actually the only docG, or it was when I got my Italian Sommelier certification from Vaso Sortunes. Italiana Sommelier back in two thousand four, but that's twenty years ago. And, you know, it's possible that there's another docG from Italy, but I don't think so, because Aetna isn't a DSCG yet. So I believe that this gem as well, it was the only DSCG, princess Lee. So what is the taste of the wine? So the grape makes these wines that are kinda light in color, which, you know, might lead one on a blind tasting to think about right? So that might be confusing to you or if you're somebody who knows that great variety from the north of Italy. It has good body and it has these cherry fruit aromas and flavors. I don't think you've think that a Farapato was Coratina, but maybe, or maybe go check, though. I mean, that's sort of like in the kind of spectrum that I think about Carapato. What is something that makes Carapato a signature that you wouldn't think of that it was anything else? It's really this kind of very, cherry note, and also this mechanism that on your this getty, you know, kind of like Mediterranean herb notes that you, you know, you can see. You're, like, imagine you're incessantly walking on the sea, and you know, the underbrush beneath you has rosemary and thyme and Sage, and all of that. So put that all in a basket and think about all of that together, and those are some of the flavors and aromas that come out of Chapato, and that is the term that people say for that in French, you would be gutting And in Italian, it would be Machima, it's Evagna, which means kind of the Mediterranean Earth around you. Right? That sort of scrub pine brush that you see when you're hiking. Okay. So that's what it tastes like. Now, you'll find it as a mono varietal wine, which can be super exciting. But you'll also find it blended with the other big grape varieties that I mentioned, Sicily. So You can also find it actually blended with some Italian white grape varieties that you might know, such as Keparath or Olizdalia. It's really hard to talk about this wine without mentioning a really famous winery called Cuffs. Cost is just a great winery that makes exciting wines and funky bottles. I love the wines from Costa. They've got these small, shaped, roundish bottles, and they're all just really delicious and exciting. They are, you know, in the exact I should have mentioned this. So the Victoria is in the southeast of Sicily. So, like, the Southern eastern point of Sicily. So it's, you know, not that far from our let's say, in terms of where it's located, and the vegetation there has, you know, almonds, and vines, and the olive trees, and all of these just exciting flavors, and it's beautiful. And cost is really exciting as a winery. It was created in nineteen eighty by a group of friends. It's their last names that make up the word costs made by Jambatista Chiria, Chiriano, and Josep Elki P and T. So Jilla Oquepiento is coss. That's the origin of the wines. And I every time I have their wines, I'm more excited whenever I move somebody picks one out. I'm like, oh, of course, you know, you have this amazing wine. But since we're talking about Farato, let's talk about, you know, their classic version of it. It's just a really, really great winery, and really fun wine. It's fun to have these wines. Cervo, as a wine, it's usually a blend. Of Rapato and Nero Dawala. The percentages depend on, Deshukinare or the legislation of the rules. So if you're having a chosen one d v thirtieth, it's a blend, but you can also, as I said, have Farato as a single grape variety. And It's usually an IGP, so that means an independent geographic protected area. So that's exciting. To me personally, how did I get to know about this this great variety and this part of Italy? Well, I visited in nineteen ninety four, this area, but way before that happened. I had heard about Victoria, because I have a dear friend who actually hails from Victoria, and her name is Maria Jovan Arrena. And I met her at my job when I was working in Milan. I was, working at a financial communications company. I had been a financial journalist when I started studying wine, and then I moved into PR, and then the rest of my story is long and complicated. But, anyway, met Maria Jevanna, and she's from Victoria. So we started talking about that part of her life and where it was from and everything else. And then I was lucky enough to remember that my father had made wine in our basement with somebody whose family was from exactly the same area. So Victoria is right near an area called Aragusa. So it's very near the town of ragusa, and my dad made wine with our neighbor who hailed from ragusa in our basement when I was a kid. And Carmelo was his name, and Carmelo, my dad made wine in our basement, and We still have some, and his name was Carmelo Belilla. I now make wine in my basement. And so maybe I'll see if I can buy some Pracato grapes and make wine, in honor of my dad. This year. Listen to the Italian wine podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We're on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, HimalIFM, and more. Don't forget to subscribe and rate the show. If you enjoy listening, please consider donating through Italian wine podcast dot com. Any amount helps cover equipment, production, and publication costs. Until next time.