Ravensworth Hilltops Fiano 2026
The Wine
The Hilltops Fiano is sourced entirely from the Bit of Heaven vineyard near Wombat, south-east of Young. The site sits at 580 metres with a north-east aspect, and its soils are shallow shale with some duplex at the lower elevations. This year's wine is once again pure Fiano (previous years have included Vermentino and Grechetto).
2026 was a tricky year, with localised frost and hail events, though it wasn't particularly wet or hot. In the winery, the fruit was pressed to a mix of new 20-hectolitre foudre and seasoned puncheons, where it fermented at 18°C and was held on lees until blending and bottling.
Seemless and delicious! VC
The Details
Variety - Fiano
Country - Australia
Region - New South Wales
Sub Region - Hilltops, Young
Extra - Screwcap
Year - 2026
Volume - 750ml
About the Wine Maker 
“… the wines are irresistibly drinkable…” James Halliday, The Australian
“Ravensworth winemaker Bryan Martin does it all – the full epicurean deal. So his wines tend to be all the more gastronomic, if you get my gist. Stuff that sits better with food than legs dangling in swimming pools or flopping around in plastic tumblers, not that stemware abuse is a crime, but the wines just seem to go better with the foraged, the home cooked, the pickled and the homegrown. Just a feel you get. And ever challenging his winemaking, grown and advanced at Clonakilla, but given wings with his own grapes.” Mike Bennie
As he tells it, Bryan Martin established Ravensworth in Murrumbateman with his partner Jocelyn and brother David in 2001 because “it seemed like a good idea at the time.” This former chef, restaurant critic, food writer and winemaker at Clonakilla is known for his emotional symbiosis with the region and his exceptionally good taste. And that’s the constant to Bryan’s wines: they express the region, and they taste good. Really good.
Home for the Martin family is in Murumbateman. Here they organically farm 3.3 hectares of predominantly own-rooted vines on soils rich in decomposed granite and red, loamy clay. The region’s star varieties, Shiraz and Riesling, hold the lion’s share of acreage, closely followed by Bryan’s passion project, Sangiovese (on which The Wine Front has written, “Bryan Martin and sangiovese should be shouted from the rooftops). The estate is also home to small plots of Nebbiolo, Gamay, Chardonnay, Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Savagnin and Ribolla Gialla. Martin is unflinching when it comes to farming: the site is certified organic; no synthetic chemicals are ever used; and he uses under-vine cultivation, cover crops and green manure. His soils are rich in organic material, his vines and vegetable garden are thriving, and the biodiverse vineyard is filled with bees and birds – it’s a site humming with energy and life.
In the winery, Martin takes a hands-off approach when it comes to additions, but a hands-on approach when it comes to coaxing the very best out of his fruit. To this end, he utilises a wide range of vessels for fermentation and maturation; ceramic, concrete, clay amphora, glass wine globes, all sizes of oak and, less and less, stainless steel. Martin also prescribes long ageing across the range, with each wine now seeing two years in vessel, resulting in a more together and balanced wine on release. Extensive lees interaction helps achieve Ravensworth’s signature silky and seductive textures, as well as skin contact and malo for whites, extended macerations for reds, natural fermentations and no fining or filtration.
