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The house grapes · red

Nebbiolo: the grape of Barolo and Barbaresco

Nebbiolo is the oldest red grape of Piedmont, in northern Italy, and the only one in Barolo and Barbaresco. It makes a perfumed wine, smelling of roses and cherries, with a tannin that grips your mouth for real. It's a wine that gets better with time in the bottle. If someone ever told you a red “needs years to be ready”, chances are they were talking about this one.

Where it comes from

Nebbiolo is Italian, from Piedmont. In VIVC, the international grape catalog, its main name is simply Nebbiolo, red, with its origin in Italy. Its parents don't appear in the passport: a 2020 DNA study by Italian researchers found seven grapes linked to it by parent-offspring relationships, but none with a good chance of being its mother or father. The same study points out that it's one of the oldest grapes in Europe with a written record.

The consortium that looks after Barolo and Barbaresco calls it Piedmont's oldest native red grape. It's a demanding plant: it buds early, between mid and late April, and only ripens in the first half of October, later than its neighbors. That's why it needs slopes facing squarely into the sun, between 200 and 450 meters of altitude, away from spring frosts.

What it's like in the glass

The consortium describes Barolo as garnet in color (that red leaning toward brick), with aromas of small red berries, cherries in spirit and jam, with touches of rose and withered violet, cinnamon and pepper. Sometimes licorice, cocoa, tobacco and leather show up too. It's a perfume that tends to surprise anyone expecting a heavy red: there's flower, fruit and spice in the same glass, and each sip shows something different.

In the mouth, tannin rules: that grip on your gums. Nebbiolo's skin is rich in tannin, says the consortium, and the wines come out strong and powerful, the kind that show their best after slow aging. And the grape itself gives fair warning: Italy's official grape register describes the pulp as tart and astringent. Young, it can seem hard; with time, the tannin calms down and the wine gets rounder.

What it pairs with

Strong tannin calls for food with fat and flavor. It goes well with pot roast, slow-roasted ribs, lamb, ossobuco and cupim (beef hump). Mushroom risotto and pasta with meat ragù are classic pairings from its home region. Aged cheese, like Parmesan or an older Canastra, also stands up to the wine. The younger, simpler ones can handle a sausage pizza or a well-made burger. It's a suggestion: if you liked it with something else, your taste is what counts.

Where it shines today

Its home is the Langhe hills, near the town of Alba. Barolo is made only from Nebbiolo, in 11 communes of the area, and has to age at least 38 months, 18 of them in wood, before release; the Riserva, 62 months. Barbaresco, also made only from Nebbiolo, comes from the communes of Barbaresco, Neive and Treiso and part of Alba, with a minimum of 26 months, 9 in wood; the Riserva, 50.

Outside the Langhe, the grape shows up in other corners of northern Italy under other names: in northern Piedmont, in Valle d'Aosta and in Valtellina, over in Lombardy. Outside Italy, it's rare. VIVC records plantings in Argentina, with data from 1991, and in Brazil Embrapa's register counted under 4 hectares in Rio Grande do Sul in 2012.

Its other names

VIVC lists 110 synonyms for Nebbiolo, and you might find three of them on a label. Spanna is what it's called in the provinces of Vercelli and Novara, in northern Piedmont. Picotener (VIVC also lists Picotendro) comes from “picciolo tenero” (tender little stalk) and is the name used in Valle d'Aosta and Carema. Chiavennasca is its name in the province of Sondrio, in Valtellina. Names of local types planted in the Langhe also turn up, such as Lampia and Michet.

A name that comes from the fog

The name Nebbiolo comes from “nebbia”, fog in Italian, but there are two explanations for it, recorded by both Italy's official grape register and the consortium. The first: the berries are covered by a thin, whitish layer, the bloom, and look foggy. The second: the grape ripens so late that the harvest falls in the season of autumn fogs. Nobody has settled it, and both are lovely.

The grape goes back a long way. The 2020 DNA study says the first mention of Nebbiolo dates from 1266, near Turin, which puts the grape among the first named in writing in Italy. Barolo and Barbaresco became DOC in 1966 and DOCG in 1980. And the vineyard slopes of the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Top rated with Nebbiolo

Average rating from the people who drank it (X-Wines), from 1 to 5. Tap to see the wine's page.

• Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva MonfortinoItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.8
• Giuseppe Rinaldi Cannubi San Lorenzo-Ravera BaroloItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.7
• Gaja Costa Russi (Barbaresco) LangheItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.7
• Gaja Sorì Tildìn (Barbaresco) LangheItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.7
• Gaja Sperss BaroloItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.7
• Gaja Sorì San LorenzoItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.6
• Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia RomirascoItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.6
• Giuseppe Rinaldi Brunate-Le Coste BaroloItaly · red · Nebbiolorating ★ 4.6

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