Nebbiolo

Grape Vari­ety: Nebbiolo

Geog­ra­phy: Mainly the Pied­mont region of North West Italy. Some grown in Cal­i­for­nia, Argentina, Uruguay and Australia.

Viti­cul­ture: In Pied­mont, usu­ally grown on south fac­ing hillsides.

Varietal/Blend: Used equally as a vari­etal and for blend­ing with var­i­ous Ital­ian red wines.

Fla­vor & Char­ac­ter: Sub­tle, com­plex fla­vors of cher­ries, choco­late, raisins and herbs.

Vini­fi­ca­tion: Not always easy to vinify. Nor­mally pro­duced under temperature-controlled fer­men­ta­tion in stain­less steel ves­sels. Gen­er­ally, requires a long aging period in wood in order to soften. Trends are towards shorter peri­ods in mac­er­a­tion and more bot­tle ageing.

Style: Good acid­ity, high in tan­nin. Its thick skins pro­duce wines that can mature for decades.

Body, Dry/Sweet: Pro­duces full-bodied, robust wines.

Notes: Makes two of Italy’s finest red wines — Barolo and Barbaresco.