Fiorano Rosso: how the wine that no longer existed has evolved

I attended a tasting of the wines from Tenuta di Fiorano organized by Athenaeum at the Hotel St. Regis in Rome. Prince Alessandrojacopo Boncompagni Ludovisi told us about the main events in the family estate's history, then presented the winery's current production – with a special treat. Alongside a selection of wines made by the current owner, the tasting also featured a wine over twenty years old, produced under the previous management.

The lineup included three white wines and three reds. The Fioranello bianco 2014, from Viognier and Grechetto grapes, vinified and aged in steel, playing on freshness and easy drinkability; two vintages of Fiorano bianco, the 2013 and the 2012, a wine made from the same blend as the Fioranello but aged in wood for one year and endowed with a different material structure; the Fioranello rosso 2013, from pure Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, aged for one year in wood, young but very interesting. And two vintages of the estate's most important wine, Fiorano rosso: the 2010, which I had already tasted a few months ago, and the 1990, made when the estate was run by Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi, the current owner's uncle.

The story is remarkable. Prince Alberico, with the consultancy of Tancredi Biondi Santi, created Fiorano rosso in the first half of the last century using a blend of two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon and one-third Merlot. The care for the land is extraordinary: of the estate's 200 hectares, the vineyard occupies just over 1% of the total surface area, and farming is conducted according to principles we might describe as organic avant la lettre.

At the end of his winemaking journey, Prince Alberico surprisingly uprooted the small vineyard, by which point his nephew Alessandrojacopo had already begun working alongside him. Following the subsequent succession events, Alberico left the planting rights to his cousin Paolo and Paolo's son Alessandrojacopo: the latter replanted an experimental vineyard of just 3 hectares, farmed with the same philosophy as the original estate. At the dawn of this century, Fiorano rosso was vinified once again, scrupulously following the original recipe.

Today we will focus on the tasting of the two vintages of Fiorano rosso. As mentioned, alongside the 2010 we had the opportunity to try a 1990, a sample drawn from the historic cellar of Tenuta di Fiorano. The wine is therefore made exactly as it was before. Yields per hectare are very low in a vineyard that continues to be farmed in accordance with the principles of organic agriculture. Fiorano rosso maintains the same composition as in the past: for every two crates of Cabernet Sauvignon, one crate of Merlot is used. The wine is a blend rather than a cut, meaning the grapes are vinified together. Even the maturation and aging of the wine remain unchanged from the past: Fiorano rests for three years in 10-hectoliter Slavonian oak casks and ages for at least another two years in bottle before being released to market.

Let us now describe the two Fiorano rosso wines.

2010

Compared to the one I described a few months ago, this red wine had spent more time in the glass, allowing it to oxygenate and thus open up more fully. The color is a beautiful luminous ruby, with just a hint of garnet at the rim. A sumptuous nose that fully confirms the wine's importance. It first releases minty notes, then mushroom and woodland undergrowth. Gradually, distinct fruity aromas emerge: blueberry, blackcurrant, then rhubarb, herbaceous nuances with a finish of china bark and liquorice. A deep palate with a tannin of great quality, very fine and aristocratic. Exceptional stylistic coherence, with a long mineral, china-tinged finish.

1990

A transparent garnet color, very luminous. The olfactory spectrum is primarily linked to evolution and the passage of time. Prominent leather notes; then mushrooms and woodland undergrowth, humus, earth, and fern that gradually give way to fruity memories, predominantly cherries in spirit. It closes with a significant mineral imprint and wafts of liquorice. The gustatory examination reveals a smooth tannin and an acidity that is still present, though not predominant, within a picture of sober refinement.

A nearly unrepeatable experience – it seems as though the same hand produced both vintages of Fiorano: it is extraordinary how the wine that no longer existed has been brought back to life. And to fully assess the aging potential of the current Fiorano rosso, we need only wait a mere two decades..