Fiano di Avellino Sequenzha Benito Ferrara 2022

Description

Benito Ferrara is a small 12.5ha estate in the hills near Tufo, a small village in Campania, south-central Italy. The name of the village derives from the fluffy volcanic rock that is present throughout the region. The finest wines made from Greco in all of Italy are found here.

Campania's most celebrated wines come from this district in the province of Avellino. Steep mountains rise from the area to the east of Naples and continue toward the border with Puglia. It is thickly forested with chestnut trees, wild mushrooms and an almost-Alpine appeal with snow-capped mountains.

Fiano is seen by many as the most prestigious white grape variety of Campania, producing wines of great elegance and refinement. Aromatic with floral and white fruit tones, with silky textures that stand in contrast to Greco's broader shoulders. The hillside vineyards of Avellino, with their volcanic soils and high altitudes, are noted for making the best Fiano wines in Italy. With a few years of bottle age these can take on more honeyed and nutty flavours.

Benito Ferrara is run by fourth-generation viticulturalists Gabriella Ferrara and her husband Sergio. Gabriella's great-grandfather planted vines on his property but they only bottled their first wines in 1991. I first came across them at Vinitaly, and then had a spectacular bottle of this wine at a restaurant on the cliffs of Ravello (see picture), high above the Amalfi coast. We loved this wine with salty crab risotto.