Wine Back Wednesday: Why Trust Matters More Than Familiarity

Wine Back Wednesday

A note from Matt on an unusual fortified Fiano from Art Wine, and why a clearer place to begin still matters.

It is always good fun when a bottle catches your eye in the cellar.

This week on Wine Back Wednesday, Matt is looking at something a little unusual: the NV Art Wine Fortified Clare Valley Fiano, called Yes Minister.

A number of months ago, it was given to him by a friend who works at the Art Wine cellar door. Then, while in the cellar recently, he saw it sitting there, grabbed it, and thought it was time.

That is often how these wines come back into view. Not through a plan, but because something about the bottle feels worth another look.

A producer worth knowing

Art Wine was started by Glen and Judy Kelly. They have been involved in vineyards since 1997, with the first vintage under the Art Wine label released in 2008.

Their cellar door and part of their vineyard holdings are in Woodside in the Adelaide Hills, with the balance in Clare Valley. Their focus has been on growing fruit sustainably and backing a wide range of emerging varieties, including Albariño, Graciano, Grüner Veltliner and Fiano.

It is believed they have around nineteen varieties planted, which tells you something about the way they think. When considering a new variety, Glen and Judy ask themselves three simple questions.

There is a lot to like in that framework. It is practical, clear-eyed, and rooted in whether the variety makes sense both in the glass and in the vineyard.

Yes Minister

Despite the name, this wine is not a nod to the English comedy series. It is dedicated instead to Judy’s grandfather, a Welsh vicar who was a teetotaller, had a wicked sense of humour, and apparently would have loved seeing a wine named after him. His photograph appears on the label.

There is not a great deal of technical information published on the wine, although it is believed to be the first fortified Fiano in Australia, and possibly the first anywhere.

Fiano itself comes from southern Italy, particularly Campania and Sicily. Fortified wines from that part of the world are more commonly associated with Marsala, and generally from varieties other than Fiano, which makes this wine all the more interesting.

Matt’s understanding is that this wine is non-vintage, with a base made predominantly from the 2016 vintage. Without much to go on, the likely path is that it was picked and fermented as a white wine, then fortified with neutral spirit to around 17.5%, and matured in older barrel for four years.

In the glass

It is a very interesting wine.

Matt found notes of honey, florals, spirit lift and subtle oak on the nose. Those characters carry through onto the palate, which also shows honeyed sweetness, cashew notes and a touch of oak, before finishing dry.

That dry finish is important. It keeps the wine from becoming cloying and gives the whole thing more shape than you might expect from a wine like this.

Where I'd Start

One of the useful things about Wine Back Wednesday is that it lets us look at wines outside our own range and think about what makes them worth opening.

It also reminds us that unfamiliarity is not the same thing as difficulty. Often, people do not need the most familiar label. They simply need a clearer place to begin.

That is very often the case with Smidge as well.

If you are new to Smidge, the best first step is not usually choosing one bottle blind from the full range. A better place to begin is Start Here 6 — our recommended first order, put together to show three wines that give a good sense of how we work.

15% S-Select member pricing is applied on this qualifying pack, and S-Select then activates automatically using the same email at checkout.

There is no subscription, no fixed deliveries, and no ongoing obligation. Just a simpler place to start.