Tried this last Thurs afternoon:
1. Harrington Fiano FratelliVnyd/SantaClaraCnty (13.5%) 2011: Med.light yellow color; rather earthy/stoney slight perfumed/marigold/lanolin quite attractive nose; rather tart/metallic/stoney/tangy/grapefruity light fruity/lanolin/floral flavoor; med.long tangy/tart/grapefruity light floral/lanolin finish; lots of stoney/tangy character but a bit neutral on the palate; more richness than the Italian ones I've had; pretty wine.
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. This was a recently bttld/unreleased wine that KenZinns brought w/ him to NEB#3 event. I've had maybe 15-20 Fianos from southern Italy over the yrs. They have not particularly impressed me. They tend to have not a lot of fruit, more of a stoney/mineral/earthy character, often a certain fatness/low aciidity, sometimes a pinched/eviiscerated character. If you're going to make white wine in Campania; I suppose this is as good as you can do.
This was the first Calif Fiano that I've tried. Maybe the first one made. I thought it was quite a nice wine...maybe the best Fiano I've ever had. It had a good acidity to it with a richness that speaks of its Calif origins. Not a profound wine...and nothing that suggests there should be a planting frenzy of Fiano in Calif. A rather pretty wine and one I'd try again. Not sure what it's priced at. If it is, yet.
I showed this wine to AnnKraemer/ShakeRidge/YorbaWines on Sat morning when I visited there. She had been looking for an alternative white in her vnyd to Viognier and Fiano was one of her possibilities. Instead she went w/ Greco di Tufo. She had her first/tiny crop in 2011 and gave it to MattRorick/ForlornHope, who made one tiny 15 gal barrel from it; after Ann decided to abandon the crop. Her comments sort of mirrored mine, though she was a bit more enthusiastic than mine I think.
Tom