2013 Guido Marsella Fiano di Avellino Campania

Marea’s Big-Eye Tuna Sashimi and Fiano di Avellino on Central Park South

When it comes to European whites, we make no secret about our preference for the crisper, more mineral wines of northern France and Italy. But there has long been an exception to that rule. Two grapes — Fiano and Greco, both indigenous to Campania — account for some of Italy’s most complex and exotic white wines. Why then, you might ask, have we never featured a Fiano di Avellino on WineAccess? Simple. One producer towers above the rest, and Guido Marsella’s Fianos had always been targeted for the finest tables in Manhattan, off-limits to WineAccess.

Until today.

Wine historians believe that the cultivation of Fiano dates back to Roman times, and perhaps even further back to the ancient Greeks. At harvest, and particularly in the hands of Guido Marsella, berries are tiny and thick-skinned, making for exceedingly high skin-to-juice ratios. Wildly aromatic, infused with aromas of honey, beeswax, white peach, and hazelnut, Fiano’s greatest challenge for winemakers is in retaining vibrancy and impeding oxidation.

As a result, the best vintages for Fiano di Avellino are the coolest ones, when the vines are spared the blistering impact of Campania’s summer sun. 2013 was just such a growing season, providing Guido Marsella with a near-perfect blueprint for one of the most complex and exotic Fianos ever to come off this superstar estate.

We wrote the following tasting note while seated at the bar at Marea. We each downed two glasses of the 2013 Guido Marsella Fiano di Avellino paired with a small plate of Tonno — big-eye tuna sashimi, oyster crema, and crispy sunchokes. Life doesn’t get any better on Central Park South.

Brilliant straw-yellow. Mouthwatering and exotic aromas of white peach, quince, smoke, and orchard pit, with piercing salinity. Rich, round, weighty, and highly phenolic on the attack, filled with a mentholated mix of peach, thick-skin Anjou pear, and freshly cut herbs. Finishes with great tension and sturdiness. While magnificent right now, like all of Marsella’s cool-vintage Fianos, this brilliant 2013 should age gracefully for the next 3-5 years.

92 points from Ian D’Agata, the longtime director of the International Wine Academy of Rome who was recently named senior editor of Antonio Galloni’s Vinous. $16 per glass at Marea on Central Park South or Bar Boulud at 63rd and Broadway, or $23 per bottle today on WineAccess — you make the call. Shipping included on 4.

• ABV 13.50%
• Enjoy right away
• % Fiano