Berton Vineyard – Fiano ‘Winemakers Reserve’, Riverina – 2022

Description

PRODUCER NOTE:
Established by Bob and Cherie Berton in May 1996. The estate covers 30 hectares of land located on gently rolling hills at 450 metres above sea level, in a subregion of Eden Valley in South Australia. The superb Reserve Shiraz and Reserve Chardonnay wines are still sourced from this plot. In 2007, Bob purchased the Yenda winery in the heart of the Riverina. This state-of- the-art facility has the capacity to process 20,000 tonnes and enables Berton Vineyard to produce value for money wines which sit alongside their premium single vineyard offerings.

VINTAGE:
The 2020-21 season was a perfect contrast with the previous one. While summer 2019- 20 was the second hottest on record, 2020-21 was the coolest in 10 years, due to the influence of a La Niña climate pattern. The cool ripening period led to an elevated natural acidity and good flavour development. Some whites in the Riverina were picked slightly early due to rain forecast, resulting in lighter flavours and lower alcohol levels. In most vineyards, crop size was slightly bigger than 2020 across South Eastern Australia.

VINEYARD:
Fiano is native to Campania in Italy, but this early ripening and relatively low yielding variety has been really flourishing in the Australian climate for the past few decades. The Fiano grapes for this wine come from the Torino vineyard near the village of Tharbogang in the Riverina, New South Wales. The vines are grown on a sandy soil with clay subsoils. As the climate is hot and dry, drip irrigation is required to nourish the vines. The vineyard rows are orientated to face north to south and the vines are trellised on a double wire and spur pruned.

WINEMAKING:
One of the winemaker’s favourites, Fiano was initially used in blending and adding interest to some of the other varieties. After years of outstanding quality, the Winemakers Reserve Fiano has been released. Harvest time was determined by flavour development, and the sugar/acidity levels having achieved ideal balance. Harvest took place in the cool of the night to retain freshness and to minimise oxidation. The grapes were destemmed and chilled to a bag press, where the free run juice was separated for this wine. The juice was lightly clarified before being slowly fermented at 14 to 16°C with a carefully selected yeast to optimise varietal expression. After a short period on the lees, the wine was prepared for bottling.

TASTING NOTE:
A benchmark expression of crisp freshness and citrus flavours from start to finish. Pale lemon in colour this wine displays aromas of lemon zest and orange along with delicate hints of jasmine. On the palate lime and pineapple flavours complement the herbaceous notes through to a zesty finish.

GRAPE:
Fiano 100%.

COUNTRY:
Australia

REGION:
New South Wales

SUB-REGION:
Riverina