Shared Knowledge

Winegrowers are in a constant state of discovery as each slope, each site, each microclimate, and each vintage is different. Time is measured by decades in the New World and by generations in the Old. Here in Virginia our learning curve is steep, but we are making fast progress. This is due in part to a tradition of shared knowledge. If we have a problem, question or concern we know we can turn to a neighbor for advice.

In this spirit, Jonathan and I visited Luca Paschina at Barboursville to pick his brain about Fiano. Fiano is a white grape grown southern Italy. We planted it just a few years ago, one of more than a dozen varieties in Linden’s climate change trial vineyard. After just a few years of production Fiano has shown great promise.

We are now learning as much as we can about this grape. We are tasting as many Fiano wines as we can find. While there is much written about the wines, there is almost no information about the vines. So we looked to Luca to fill in those gaps. He has been growing Fiano at Barboursville for almost a decade now. We walked the Barboursville Fiano planting vineyard peppering him with questions about bud break and harvest dates, yields, disease susceptibility, cold hardiness, vine growth habits, soil preferences. Back at the winery, Luca generously opened five vintages of Barboursville Fianos (2017 to 2021). Jonathan and I were impressed by their classic salinity and texture. They became more complex and layered with age.

We left excited about Fiano’s potential. But perhaps even more, energized about resuming (post pandemic) the tradition of visiting and interacting with our colleagues once again.

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Linden Vineyards / Learn More / Latest at Linden | Journal: November 30, 2022