Kim Uncorked: Welcome to my weekly wine recommendation.
Hi, I’m Kim, a passionate lover of wine, food, and any experience that brings the two together! In this weekly blog post, I share my thoughts on a wine that I’ve recently purchased from one of our local independent wine merchants. If you’d like to know more about me, I’ve included a brief bio following the post.
2023 Scariazzo Fiano
Puglia IGT
Italian White Wine
Liberty Wine Merchants
$35.99
Various locations
This week, let’s venture to Italy’s Puglia region for a taste of one of the country’s finest but commercially lesser-known grapes—Fiano.
Native to Irpinia in Campania, Fiano is prized for its aromatic complexity and ability to age gracefully, developing layers of honey, hazelnut, and smoky mineral character over time. In Puglia’s Murgia hills, the grape thrives in limestone-rich soils and benefits from significant day-to-night temperature swings, producing wines of both concentration and freshness.
The 2023 Scariazzo Fiano from Rivera offers a fine expression of Fiano. Founded in the late 19th century, Rivera is one of Puglia’s benchmark estates with 150 hectares combining sustainably farmed vineyards and centuries-old olive groves. The wine takes its name from the scariazzo, a traditional vaulted stone sheep shelter that pays homage to the region’s rural heritage. Production is limited to approximately 6,000 bottles annually.
Sourced from a single vineyard, Scariazzo Fiano is fermented in a combination of 20% new Allier oak barriques and 80% stainless-steel tanks, then aged on its lees in cement tanks. The result is a layered and distinctive white wine offering aromas of white flowers, melon, orchard fruit, thyme, almond, and smoky minerals. Crisp acidity and a pronounced mineral backbone carry the palate through, with a distinct quince flavor, a waxy mid-palate, and a slightly bitter almond finish.
Fiano is well suited to rich, oily fish and creamy chicken dishes, or, as my Italian friend would say, never pick up a bottle of Fiano without a basket of clams for Linguine alla Vongole.
Kim Mead is a Vancouver-based wine and food writer. She holds the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines with Merit, the French Wine Scholar designation with Honours, and Italian Wine Essentials certification. She is currently pursuing the Bordeaux Master’s program with the Wine Scholar Guild. Kim serves as Cellar Master for the Vancouver chapter of the International Wine and Food Society and is a member of the Commanderie de Bordeaux. Follow her @agalandaglass