Winemaker Notes
This wine is fine as an aperitif, especially with toasted nuts, but it is also well-paired with seafood and cashew or almond chicken.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Radici combines delicate floral scents and flavors of golden apple and pear in a balanced, mineral-inflected wine. Notes of safe accent the fruit, and the wine takes on a honeyed, smoky tone with exposure to air.
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Wine Enthusiast
White spring flower, acacia and tropical fruit aromas lift out of the glass. On the smooth, rounded palate, tangy acidity and a mineral vein energize ripe yellow apple, juicy pear and a drop of honey. A hint of toasted almond signals the close.
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Wine Spectator
A refreshing, clean-cut white, with hints of chalk and saline creating a tangy underpinning to the flavors of Asian pear, kiwifruit, Marcona almond and lime blossom. Light- to medium-bodied, with a lingering finish. Drink now through 2022.
Fiano is an aromatic, white variety fully suited to the Apennine Mountains of Campania and has been documented in the region since the 13th century. It is at its best in the hills of Avellino where volcanic soils give it a charismatic aromatic lift and support a range of styles from taut and steely to nutty and smooth. Somm Secret—If you like Chardonnay, Viognier or Pinot Blanc, Fiano would be a great new wine to try!
A winemaking renaissance is underfoot in Campania as more and more small, artisan and family-run wineries redefine their style with vineyard improvements and cellar upgrades. The region boasts a cool Mediterranean climate with extreme coastal, as well as high elevation mountain terroirs. It is cooler than one might expect in Campania; the region usually sees some of the last harvest dates in Italy.
Just south of Mount Vesuvio, the volcanic and sandy soils create aromatic and fresh reds based on Piedirosso and whites, made from Coda di Volpe and Falanghina. Both reds and whites go by the name, Lacryma Christi, meaning the "tears of Christ." South of Mount Vesuvio, along the Amalfi Coast, the white varieties of Falanghina and Biancolella make fresh, flirty, mineral-driven whites, and the red Piedirosso and Sciasinoso vines, which cling to steeply terraced coastlines, make snappy and ripe red wines.
Farther inland, as hills become mountains, the limestone soil of Irpinia supports the whites Fiano di Avellino, Falanghina and Greco di Tufo as well as the most-respected red of the south, Aglianico. Here the best and most age-worthy examples come from Taurasi.
Farther north and inland near the city of Benevento, the Taburno region also produces Aglianico of note—called Aglianico del Taburno—on alluvial soils. While not boasting the same heft as Taurasi, these are also reliable components of any cellar.