Oliver’s Taranga Fiano 2025

Is there anything more annoying than when some poor contestant on Masterchef serves a bowl of ice cream and gets dubbed the Dessert Queen for the next three months. Yes, there probably is, but this is up there. This particular random thought popped into my mind when I almost referred to Corrina Wright from Oliver’s as the Fiano Queen. Shall we just leave it as Fiano royalty. It is certainly fair to say that few people have done as much to promote this really excellent Italian white variety in this country as Corrina (embarrassingly, I’ve just seen the Oliver’s press blurb refer to her as the Queen of Fiano, so another battle lost). At this stage, Fiano is still what one might call small bikkies, with just over 100 hectares planted in Australia, but the figure that did surprise me is that only 10% of that is in McLaren Vale. The range from Olivier’s must surely be encouraging others to plant the grape there. This is their standard Fiano and it is an absolute cracker, not to mention excellent value. The colour is a bronzy straw. The wine is beautifully perfumed with spices, lime leaves, citrus, hazelnut and stone fruits. There is focus and energy, a seductive texture, good acidity and excellent length, all the while exhibiting underlying power. Enjoy this for at least the next eight years. Love it.