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Unico Zelo 'Alluvium' Fiano
Unico Zelo 'Alluvium' Fiano
Grapes — 100% Fiano
Region — Birdwood, Adelaide Hills, South Australia, Australia
Tasting Notes — Pale gold with a crystalline clarity and an intensity that announces itself immediately. Grapefruit pith, lime zest, guava, kaffir lime, and jasmine tea on the nose — pristine, aromatic, and utterly focused. The palate is lean, electric, and thrillingly mineral — almost Riesling-like in its acidity, with quartz-driven tension cutting straight through ripe stone fruit and citrus and leaving a finish that lingers long and demands another sip. The winery's own description is difficult to improve on: this is what it tastes like to drink a laser.
The Wine — 100% Fiano from Mylkappa Vineyard in Birdwood, Adelaide Hills — grown on alluvial quartz-shot clay soils that give the wine its signature lean, crystalline mineral structure. These vines were grafted from Sauvignon Blanc only in 2015, making their precocious quality all the more remarkable. Of Unico Zelo's several single-vineyard Fianos, Alluvium is the crown jewel — the most structured, the most age-worthy, and the one that most completely expresses what these particular soils in this particular cool-climate corner of the Adelaide Hills can do with a grape indigenous to southern Campania. In the Carters' own words: their special-occasion Fiano. One for the cellar and one for the table.
Farming — Sustainably farmed with organic and eco-friendly practices. Unico Zelo's variety selection is itself a farming philosophy — Fiano requires only a quarter of the water of conventional varieties, making it naturally suited to Australia's increasingly arid growing conditions and dramatically reducing the need for irrigation, fungicides, and synthetic inputs. Certified B Corporation since 2019 — the first winery in Australia to achieve that status.
Winemaking — Minimal intervention from vine to bottle. Native yeast fermentation, no acidification, no chaptalization. Lees contact for approximately three months without MLF, preserving the wine's natural acidity and freshness. Lightly filtered before bottling — worth knowing if you prefer the unfiltered style, though the wine retains exceptional precision and character. Small addition of sulfur at bottling only.
The Producer — Unico Zelo was founded in 2012 by Laura Carter and Brendan Carter — she the chief winemaker and agricultural scientist, he the oenologist and the one who occasionally goes by #FianoMan. Two years after launching, they jointly won Australia's Young Gun of Wine People's Choice Award. Their mission from day one has been to demonstrate that Mediterranean varieties — drought-resistant, naturally high in acidity, and deeply suited to Australia's warming climate — are the future of serious Australian wine. Fiano is where they've planted their flag most decisively. They now produce six to eight distinct single-vineyard Fianos each year, each one a precise argument that place matters, variety matters, and that Australia has barely scratched the surface of what it can do outside of Shiraz and Chardonnay. Alluvium is the proof.
Drink It With — Grilled snapper with lemon and herbs, sashimi, aged sheep's milk cheese, risotto with fresh herbs, or any occasion serious enough to deserve a wine that will get better in the cellar and brilliant at the table.
Unico Zelo 'Alluvium' Fiano
Grapes — 100% Fiano
Region — Birdwood, Adelaide Hills, South Australia, Australia
Tasting Notes — Pale gold with a crystalline clarity and an intensity that announces itself immediately. Grapefruit pith, lime zest, guava, kaffir lime, and jasmine tea on the nose — pristine, aromatic, and utterly focused. The palate is lean, electric, and thrillingly mineral — almost Riesling-like in its acidity, with quartz-driven tension cutting straight through ripe stone fruit and citrus and leaving a finish that lingers long and demands another sip. The winery's own description is difficult to improve on: this is what it tastes like to drink a laser.
The Wine — 100% Fiano from Mylkappa Vineyard in Birdwood, Adelaide Hills — grown on alluvial quartz-shot clay soils that give the wine its signature lean, crystalline mineral structure. These vines were grafted from Sauvignon Blanc only in 2015, making their precocious quality all the more remarkable. Of Unico Zelo's several single-vineyard Fianos, Alluvium is the crown jewel — the most structured, the most age-worthy, and the one that most completely expresses what these particular soils in this particular cool-climate corner of the Adelaide Hills can do with a grape indigenous to southern Campania. In the Carters' own words: their special-occasion Fiano. One for the cellar and one for the table.
Farming — Sustainably farmed with organic and eco-friendly practices. Unico Zelo's variety selection is itself a farming philosophy — Fiano requires only a quarter of the water of conventional varieties, making it naturally suited to Australia's increasingly arid growing conditions and dramatically reducing the need for irrigation, fungicides, and synthetic inputs. Certified B Corporation since 2019 — the first winery in Australia to achieve that status.
Winemaking — Minimal intervention from vine to bottle. Native yeast fermentation, no acidification, no chaptalization. Lees contact for approximately three months without MLF, preserving the wine's natural acidity and freshness. Lightly filtered before bottling — worth knowing if you prefer the unfiltered style, though the wine retains exceptional precision and character. Small addition of sulfur at bottling only.
The Producer — Unico Zelo was founded in 2012 by Laura Carter and Brendan Carter — she the chief winemaker and agricultural scientist, he the oenologist and the one who occasionally goes by #FianoMan. Two years after launching, they jointly won Australia's Young Gun of Wine People's Choice Award. Their mission from day one has been to demonstrate that Mediterranean varieties — drought-resistant, naturally high in acidity, and deeply suited to Australia's warming climate — are the future of serious Australian wine. Fiano is where they've planted their flag most decisively. They now produce six to eight distinct single-vineyard Fianos each year, each one a precise argument that place matters, variety matters, and that Australia has barely scratched the surface of what it can do outside of Shiraz and Chardonnay. Alluvium is the proof.
Drink It With — Grilled snapper with lemon and herbs, sashimi, aged sheep's milk cheese, risotto with fresh herbs, or any occasion serious enough to deserve a wine that will get better in the cellar and brilliant at the table.