Tumblong Hills general manager and vigneron Simon Robertson in the vineyard. Tumblong Hills Wines

What is Australia’s best fiano region?

A quick check of The Real Review’s Top Value fianos came up with this list:

McLaren Vale, Clare Valley, King Valley, Hilltops, Adelaide Hills, Rutherglen, Riverina, Margaret River, Murray Darling … and Gundagai.

That’s a pretty diverse range of regions but all of them are reasonably warm and sunny, which is what fiano likes. It is a native of Italy’s Campania region, after all.

I’ve enjoyed the last two vintages of the Gundagai wine, Tumblong Hills Table Of Plenty Fiano, 2023 and 2022 (AUD $25), but it was a glass that I drank with a meal that impressed me with its food compatibility.

First Nations chef Mark Olive (aka The Black Olive) recently hosted a Chefs Of The House degustation dinner at the Sydney Opera House, in a secret room behind a concealed door. All very mysterious, and rather exciting.

The intimate gathering took part in a five-course meal, each dish incorporating Australian native ingredients.

The 2023 Tumblong Hills Fiano was partnered with lemon myrtle and pepperberry cured salmon. The fish was served topped with lemon myrtle ‘pearls’, lemon aspen gel and cucumber; the fish had been infused with lemon myrtle and gin. The wine is subtle and its mild aromaticity permitted the food to take centre-stage, while its intensity and depth of flavour enabled it to stand up to substantial food flavours.

On the menu, the wine’s provenance was listed as “Gundagai NSW, Wiradjuri land”.

Tumblong Hills is not an indigenous brand, but we did have an indigenous wine with the next course, which was smoked blue gum barramundi, paired with Munda Chardonnay 2023, from Tumbarumba NSW, Walgulu Country. This was a pretty good match too, although the wine is a delicate and lightly wooded style of chardonnay from a very cool location. The fish was served with chardonnay vinegar mashed potato, lemon myrtle chilli and macadamia broth. The tangy vinegar mash was new to me and especially enjoyable with the fish.

Chef Mark Olive. Midden by Mark Olive

I first met Mark Olive on the Queen Elizabeth where we were both hosting events. His warmly engaging personality was magnetic, his sense of humour infectious. Another given with Mark is that he will serve wallaby if he can. So the main course was braised wallaby shank, with native tomato sauce and sweet potato rosti. The wine accompaniment was Dalwood Tempranillo Touriga 2022, from the Hunter Valley NSW, Wonnarua Country. Asked by some American guests about the difference between kangaroo and wallaby, Mark replied that wallaby is to kangaroo like veal is to beef: it’s lighter, more subtle and less gamy. This dish would have been enjoyed by aficionados of braised lamb shanks (me included).

Mark also served us green ants, crocodile tail fillet (done tandoori style), sea parsley on sweetcorn saltbush fritters, and a Davidson plum margarita on arrival.

A superb meal and well chosen NSW wines. Incidentally, the fiano seemed to be the group’s favourite wine. Fine music was provided by MariMayi, a First Nations duo from central NSW.

Mark’s Sydney restaurant is Midden by Mark Olive, at the Opera House. He is our outstanding First Nations chef, a Bunjalung man with 30 years’ experience cooking with native ingredients and educating about indigenous culture. His media career has included Outback Café, A Chef’s Line, On Country Kitchen, Good Cooks, The Celebrity Apprentice, The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, and Big Mob Brekky.