Our Wine Choice: Francesca Fiasco Paestum Difesa 2019

Our Wine Choice this week takes us to Campania in the south of Italy, to the comune of Filetto in the beautiful Cilento National Park, which is about 130 kilometers south of Naples.

The Francesca Fiasco Paestum Difesa 2019 is an inspired blend of 35 percent aglianico, 35 percent cabernet sauvignon, 20 percent barbera and 10 percent other local red grapes, produced by Francesca Fiasco, a young winemaker who is being hailed, at least locally, as the next superstar winemaker in the Campania region.

She inherited her grandfather’s six hectares of vineyards, including 70-year-old aglianico vines, in 2015 and, under the guidance of enologist Emiliano Falsetti, set out to produce high-quality wines that add a modern interpretation to local traditional winemaking. Her first wines appeared with the 2016 vintage.

The Difesa is a good example of this deft winemaking, offering the unmistakable, leathery plum and berry character that is typical of aglianico, together with a more meaty and spicy aura that pervades the wine. Vinified in 50-hectoliter French oak casks, the wine then matures for 18 months in 30 percent new tonneaux (900-liter barrels), followed by a further year in bottle before release. You feel the influence of oak throughout the wine, but it is never too much, balanced by focused and persistent fruit that combine to give a long, long finish.

What I particularly like about this wine is – to use the buzzword of our times – its “drinkability.” This comes from the super balance of the wine and, perhaps, the surprising fact that the alcohol content is a mere 13.5 percent. The tannins, too, are lightly firm and don’t hinder the flow of the wine on the palate. That said, I can see this wine aging nicely in the cellar for another five to 10 years, as is usual for a well-made aglianico.

I will certainly be keeping my eye on this new (for me) producer, and I highly encourage you to do the same. Quantities are small but well worth seeking out.

– Jo Cooke, Tastings Editor