Crushed river rocks, warm baking spices, green tea, and dried white flowers frame the stone and orchard fruits in the beguiling '92 Semillon. Bright acidity and profound minerality keep this superb mature white nimble, and its brocade-like mouth-feel perfectly conveys its myriad notes. Building to a dry, lingering and mineral-inflected finish, this is an impressive wine. This Fiorano Semillon combines the characteristics and layers of a mature white Burgundy, the dried tropical fruit of a Sauternes, the texture and body of an Alsatian white, and the oxidative but mineral side of an aged Sherry, all together in one bottle. The product of dedication and passion from Principe Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi and his Fiorano estate, whose avant-garde approach of organic agriculture and the use of a magical mold was way ahead of its time, this wine shows a rare ability to age.
Fiorano is the wine estate of Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi, the prince of Venosa. The estate is located in the region of Latium of Lazio. To say you have sampled the wines of the Fiorano estate would put you in the elite few. The rare and highly regarded wines come from the international varietals of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot for the Rosso and Malvasia di Candia for the Bianco, and lastly a white wine made from the Semillon grape. The wines are the product of a dedicated and passionate prince whose avant garde approach was way ahead of its time. His whites took on a phenomenon for their ability to age, but became a true rarity as the prince was elusive and did not care to put the wines in the wrong hands. The story of the prince and his forgotten bottles is truly a gift to be shared and was captured by The New York Times through their chief wine critic, Eric Asimov in the December 22, 2004 edition of The New York Times. Read the actual article below and then be sure to read about
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