Unico Zelo "River Sand" Fiano

Grapes: Fiano

Region: Riverland, Australia

Vintage: 2021

Viticulture: Sustainable

Fining or Filtering: None

Sulfur: Minimal

Notes from the Importer: There isn't much we love more than a glass of white wine in the sun, where all you are looking for is something bright, textural and refreshing - with or without food. For us it's Riversand. From the remarkable organic Bassham Vineyards in Barmera, the heat of the Riverland brings the fun to this wine - and our 2021 rendition is still in fine form. 

Lovely briney, vermouth-esque aromatics, plenty of wormwood and green olive under Riversand’s trademark whiffs of nectarine and a little grilled almond too. The slick, oily mouthfeel is there as always, but with a bit more check and balance this year. With the Riverland, it’s pretty easy for this wine to be fruit dominant, but even 2021 threw perfect balance the Riverland’s way. A lovely lemon juice-riddled salty acid line, before rolling into a wholemeal, toasty complexity. As refined an example of this wine as we’ve seen yet.

Brendan and Laura Carter of Unico Zelo apply an intuitive approach to their wines, making them in natural in all sense of the term. They secure fruit parcels that match the varietal to the soil and climate to region. Nero D’Avola and Fiano from the hot dry Riverland and Nebbiolo from the blue slate soils of Polish Hill in the Clare Valley. Laura, chief winemaker and her husband, Brendan, are incredibly passionate about the soil and produce in Australia. It’s their intent to showcase products to the rest of the world that embrace Australian native ingredients and pay homage to the indigenous custodianship who maintained the land for thousands of years. They seek Australian identity in the products they craft, and their hope is that these Australian stories can oneday be heard on a global scale. Unico Zello is part of the “New Australia” movement focusing on alternative varietals, sustainability, natural yeast, vegan friendly