Nebbiolo (,"Nebbiolo" (US) and ; ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, and Roero, together with numerous DOC wines. Nebbiolo is thought to derive its name from the Italian or Piedmontese , meaning 'fog'. During harvest, which generally takes place late in October, a deep, intense fog sets into the Langhe region where many Nebbiolo vineyards are located. Alternative explanations refer to the fog-like glaucous veil that forms over the berries as they reach maturity, or that perhaps the name is derived instead from the Italian word , meaning 'noble'. Nebbiolo produces lightly-colored red wines which can be highly tannic in youth with scents of tar and roses. As they age, the wines take on a characteristic brick-orange hue at the rim of the glass and mature to reveal other aromas and flavours such as violets, tar, wild herbs, cherries, raspberries, truffles, tobacco, and prunes. Nebbiolo wines can require years of ageing to balance the tannins with other characteristics.
History
Ampelographers believe that Nebbiolo is indigenous to the Piedmont region, though there is some DNA evidence to suggest that it could have originated in the Valtellina area of northern Lombardy, just to the east. In the 1st century AD, Pliny the Elder noted the exceptional quality of the wine produced in the Pollentia region located northwest of what is now the Barolo DOCG zone. While Pliny does not explicitly name the grape responsible for these Pollenzo wines, his description of the wine bears similarities to later descriptions of Nebbiolo-based wines, making this potentially the first notation of wine made from Nebbiolo in the Piedmont region. The first explicit mention of Nebbiolo dates to 1268, in which a wine known as "nibiol" was described as growing in Rivoli near Turin. This was followed by a 1303 account of a producer in the Roero district described as having a barrel of "nebiolo" (sic). In the 1304 treatise Liber Ruralium Commodorum, the Italian jurist Pietro Crescenzi described wine made from "nubiola" as being of excellent quality. In the 15th century, statutes in the region of La Morra (in what is now the Barolo zone) demonstrated the high esteem that the Nebbiolo vine had in the area. According to these laws, the penalties for cutting down a Nebbiolo vine ranged from a heavy fine to having the right hand cut off or hanging for repeat offenders.
The grape first captured attention outside Piedmont in the 18th century, when the British were looking for alternative wine sources to Bordeaux due to prolonged political conflicts with the French. However, the lack of easy transport from Piedmont to London would keep the Piedmontese wine from having the enduring relationship with British connoisseurship that is associated with Bordeaux, port and sherry. Nonetheless, plantings of Nebbiolo continued to grow during the 19th century until the phylloxera epidemic hit. With vast swaths of vineyards devastated by the pest, some vineyard owners decided to replant with different grape varieties, with Barbera being a significant beneficiary. Today, Nebbiolo covers around 9% of Piedmont vineyards, compared to the 30% occupied by Barbera.
Relationships with other varieties
In 2004, research at the University of California-Davis and Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige found Nebbiolo to be related to Piedmont by way of two aromatic grape varieties – the Freisa grape of Piedmont and the French Rhone variety Viognier. This research further suggests a parent-offspring relationship between Nebbiolo and several Italian grapes including Freisa, Bubbierasco, Nebbiolo Rosé, and Vespolina of the Piedmont region, and the Lombardy grapes Negrara and Rossola nera. Additional DNA analysis also suggest a parent-offspring relationship with the Lombardy grape Brugnola, previously thought to be only a synonym for the Emilia-Romagna grape Fortana.
Viticulture
Compared to the annual growth cycle of other Piedmontese grape varieties, Nebbiolo is one of the first varieties to bud and the last variety to ripen with harvest taking place in mid to late October. In some vintages, producers are able to pick and complete fermentation of their Barbera and Dolcetto plantings before Nebbiolo is even harvested. To aid in ripening, producers will often plant Nebbiolo in the most favoured sites on south and southwestern-facing slopes, which give the grape more access to direct sunlight. The most ideal location is at an elevation between and must provide some natural shelter from wind. The vine is very susceptible to coulure, especially if there is wet weather during budbreak or flowering. While rains during this period can affect yield and quantity, rains that occur after the period of veraison can have a detrimental effect on quality. The most highly rated bottles of Piedmont Nebbiolo tend to come from vintages that had dry weather during September and October. Nebbiolo needs sufficient warmth to develop the sugars and fruit flavours needed to balance the grape's naturally high acidity and tannins. In cooler climate areas, such as the subalpine regions of Carema, Valtellina and Donnaz, the grape will produce medium bodied wines with bracing acidity and tannins that need the benefit of a warm vintage.
Nebbiolo does not adapt particularly well to various vineyard soil types, preferring soils with high concentrations of calcareous marl such as those found on the right bank of the Tanaro river around Alba where Barolo and Barbaresco are produced. The grape can thrive in sandy soils, such as those on the left bank of the Tanaro around the Roero district but the wines from this soil type tend not to be as perfumed – lacking in particular the classic tar aromas. The slightly acidic pH of the sandy Roero soils tend to produce early maturing wines. The lighter wines of Ghemme and Gattinara come from the acidic porphyry soils of the hills between Novara and Vercelli. In the lower Aosta Valley, the soil has a high concentration of granite while the soils of the Valtellina region of Lombardy are predominantly schist based. In addition to soil type, the drainage ability and concentration of magnesium and potassium can have an influencing effect on the type of Nebbiolo wine produced.
Clones
Like many varieties (such as Pinot noir) with ancient pedigree, the Nebbiolo vine is genetically unstable and prone to mutation. As of 2001, there were around 40 different clones of Nebbiolo identified. The three main phenotypes used for winemaking are Lampia, Michet and Nebbiolo Rosé.
While Nebbiolo Rosé was originally thought to be a Nebbiolo clone, DNA research has later shown it to be a separate grape variety that has a parent-offspring relationship with Nebbiolo. Although the DOCG regulations for Barolo and Barbaresco require the wines to be made from Nebbiolo only, Nebbiolo Rosé remains permitted in practice. Its impact is limited by the fact that Nebbiolo Rosé had fallen out of favour long before the discovery that it was a separate variety, due, in part, to its wine's light colouring. Consequently, Nebbiolo Rosé accounts for only a small percentage of the vines grown for the production of Barolo and Barbaresco. Moreover, there are only a few bottlings where its presence is known to be significant.
The Lampia strain adapts best to different soil types. Perhaps due to inbreeding in Nebbiolo's lineage, the vine is very prone to grape diseases caused by viruses. Viral infection of the Lampia genotype originally gave rise to the Michet phenotype (though the Michet clones now cultivated are free from the virus). While Michet adapts less readily to different soil types, its smaller bunches and lower yields makes for highly concentrated wines. In many vineyards, producers will maintain a variety of Nebbiolo clones in order to maximize their wines' complexity.
Winemaking
In the most notable expression of Nebbiolo, the wines of Barolo, there is a division between what is considered a "traditional" approach to Nebbiolo and a "modernist" approach. The roots of both styles can trace their history to the early "pre-technology" production of Nebbiolo. Prior to the advent of temperature-controlled fermentation, the late harvest dates for Nebbiolo meant that the wines began fermentation when the weather turned cold. These cool temperatures would delay fermentation for several days, extending the maceration period and extraction of phenolic compounds such as tannins. When fermentation did begin, temperatures would reach excessive levels of 95-100 °F (35-38 °C), which would drastically reduce potential aromas and flavours. With the high levels of tannins, these early Barolos would require five years or more of ageing in oak barrels to soften some of the astringency. Lack of understanding of proper hygiene led to less sanitary conditions than what both traditional and modernist producers maintain today. Those conditions led to the development of bacterial infection of cement fermentation tanks and old wood barrels, which contributed to the development of off flavours and potential wine faults that would require at least 24 hours decanting to alleviate.
Today's winemaking for both traditionalists and modernists includes strict hygiene controls and the use of some modern winemaking equipment. Rather than fall into one hardline camp or the other, many producers take a middle-ground approach that utilizes some modernist techniques along with traditional winemaking. In general, the traditional approach to Nebbiolo involves long maceration periods of 20 to 30 days and the use of older large botti size barrels. The modern approach to Nebbiolo utilizes shorter maceration periods of 7 to 10 days and cooler fermentation temperatures between that preserve fruit flavours and aromas. Towards the end of the fermentation period, the cellars are often heated to encourage the start of malolactic fermentation which softens some of Nebbiolo's harsh acidity. Modern winemakers tend to favour smaller barrels of new oak that need only a couple of years to soften the tannic grip of the wines. As new oak imparts notes of vanilla, it has the potential to cover up the characteristic rose notes of Nebbiolo.
Blending
In the Piedmont region, there is a long history of blending other grape varieties with Nebbiolo in order to add colour and/or soften the grape's harsh tannins. In addition to the use of red wine grapes such as Barbera, Croatina, and Bonarda Piemontese, white wine grapes such Arneis and Favorita also have a history of being blended with Nebbiolo. Historically, the association of blending Arneis with Nebbiolo was so strong that a common synonym of the former is Barolo Bianco or "white Barolo". Today, the DOCG regulations for Barolo and Barbaresco call for the wine to be a 100% varietal of Nebbiolo. In 1998, producers of the Barbaresco region drafted a proposal to allow 10-15% of other grape varieties into the wine, but bad press by Italian wine critics led to the rejection of that plan. While there is some speculation, from critics such as Oz Clarke, that Barbera or even Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon may be used to augment the colour and flavours of Barolos by some producers, there is no explicit proof that this is occurring.
For the Nebbiolo-based wines of the Roero DOC, between 2 and 5% of Arneis is permitted in the blend, but the majority of producers rarely use this allowance. Similarly, many producers in Ghemme and Gattinara who are allowed some blending of Vespolina, Croatina, and Bonarda opt instead to use nearly 100% Nebbiolo. In the Valtellina region of Lombardy Merlot, Pinot nero, Pignola, Prugnolo, and Rossola are permitted blending partners for Nebbiolo.
Wine regions