Quintodecimo Fiano di Avellino Exultet | 2022

The wines of Quintodecimo do the impossible, making power and lightness one in the same. Located in Mirabella Eclano, Luigi and Laura planted their vines on the Apennine Ridge, where a mountainous terroir collides with volcanic, clay, and limestone soils. The winters are harsh and snowy, but the summers are dry and mild, a happy medium for grapes, which forge a long trail of minerality. Family-owned, everything at Quintodecimo is done by hand, with no use of chemicals in the vineyard, and since their first vintage in the early 2000s, production still hovers around just 5,000 cases. A great introduction to the estate, the Fiano comes from the single vineyard "Exultet," 570 meters high with clay-calcareous soils, facing southwest. Whole-bunch fermentation takes place in a combination of stainless steel (70%) and new oak barrels (30%), followed by eight months of aging on the fine lees. The wine is brilliant in the glass with flecks of platinum, blonde, and green, and the first sip unlocks all the wonderful smells of an enchanted forest. There’s honeybee, acacia, linden & fennel pollen, exotic pear, apple, and yellow citrus. The palate is lithe, almost weightless, and overflows with succulent cold minerals. Surely on the pricier end for Campania whites, Quintodecimo is not your typical Fiano. It’s a pure expression of Mirabella Eclano, one of Italy’s finest terroirs, and it's worth every penny. ~Allegra A