Each month, David Brenner of Villasfor2 in Abruzzo selects a delicious, top-value 'Special Italian Wine' for you to enjoy at home – or in your Abruzzo villa for two.

Fiano di Avellino DOCG, 2008. Aminea

Here's a little winey conundrum.

In April 09, we featured a bottle of Italy's new superstar DOCG white, Fiano di Avellino. From one of Campania's finest producers, this bottle cost €10.65 in a specialist wine shop.

Under the spotlight now is another bottle of DOCG Fiano di Avellino. Not from one of Campania's finest producers, this bottle cost €4.49 in a cut-price supermarket.

Question is, are they comparable ?

The expensive Fiano was a truly delicious summer white, reminiscent of a good viognier, with the same hints of peach, apricot and melon and a long, dry finish.

To be honest, the cheap Fiano doesn't suffer too much in comparison. It too is made with 100% Fiano grapes, though if your palate is as finely-tuned as Eric Clapton's Stratocaster, you might just possibly judge this a little less refined; a little less full; and with marginally shorter finish.

On the the other hand, that you can buy two bottles of the cheaper stuff for less than one bottle of the expensive brand and still have enough left over for a bag of crisps could perhaps be the crucial clincher.

Quantity and quality – not something you come across too often…

So how come one bottle costs €10.65 and the other only €4.49 ? I suspect this may be a rebottling/rebranding of a job-lot of this wine bought-up by the cut-price supermarket.

It doesn't carry the usual labelling you'd find on a 'regular' bottle of Fiano di Avellino from the producers Aminea and the fact it has a plastic cork – highly unusual for a DOCG wine – indicates it may have been round the block more than once.

Not that this in any way detracts from the wine. Let's not be wine-snobbish here and equate price with excellence.

If you're happy to pay €10.65 for a top-quality bottle of DOCG white – go right ahead. But don't turn your noses up at what's basically the same wine and, irrespective of its provenance, a rare bargain.

If you're looking for a dozen bottles of a really good Italian summer white for sipping in the shade and are prepared to stray from the well-trodden path of Pinot Grigio and Frascati, you won't find a better wine, with a better pedigree at a better price.

At A Glance…

• This month's Special Italian wine: Fiano di Avellino    
• Vintage: 2008    
• Designation: DOCG    
• Grape: 100% Fiano    
• Strength: 12.5%    
• Closure: Plastic cork    
• Producer: Aminea    
• This bottle cost: €4.49

Next Month…
It's been a while since we featured a Sicilian wine, so we'll be sampling a bottle of an IGT white from one of the island's oldest and most respected producers. It's a wine made for summer drinking that you'll enjoy sampling at home – and in your Abruzzo villa for two.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2010 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Eating and Drinking, Special Italian Wine, Vineyards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.