Hey folks, let’s have some fun learning about Nebbiolo today! Below we’ve listed our 10 favorite facts about the grape of the month:
- Nebbiolo originated in Piemonte and is considered the most important grape in the region
- The name ‘Nebbiolo’ comes from the Italian word nebbia, translated to: fog, so Nebbiolo itself means ‘little foggy one’ – a name that was given due to the foggy nature of the region
- One of the famous features of the grape is its thick skin, once extracted, making for a very tannic wine with incredible age potential (some of the best examples have matured well into 4 decades from harvest)
- Nebbiolo is an early-budding, late-ripening grape, and contrary to the foggy name, requires a lot of sun to fully ripen – most vineyards are planted on southern-facing hillsides to achieve maximum sun exposure
- Nebbiolo is an ancient grape, with the first reference of Nebbiolo dating back to the 13th century
- Nebbiolo makes for less than 10% of the plantings in all of Piemonte, but is still considered one of Italy’s premier wines, and is grown more in Piemonte than anywhere else in the world
- With the importance of Nebbiolo in mind for Italian premier wines, it’s a wonder it is very rarely planted elsewhere in Italy
- Much like the ancient Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo is considered a terroir wine, expressing noticeable differences from one vineyard site to the next, showcasing earthy qualities from the growing site and exhibiting expressions unique to the local microclimate from one vintage to the next
- Also like Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo is a very tough grape to grow, it’s early budding and late ripening requires more time on the vine, which translates to more time for things to go wrong
- Famous for its brick color when aged, and well known as a lighter colored wine (however, considered a full bodied wine from the heavy tannins) Nebbiolo has ancient genes that make it a bit unstable, especially in the color department; the water-soluble pigments in the skin are unstable and result in a rapidly deteriorating colored wine
So there you have it, our 10 favorite Nebbiolo facts! Stay tuned as we move onward with #febisnebb this whole month!