Nebbiolo variety
The noble grape from Piedmont
Nebbiolo is starting point for the most important wines of Piedmont and the world: Barolo and Barbaresco.
The name “Nebbiolo” has different origins and meanings: according to some people, as the harvest of Nebbiolo usually is planned in October, when the fog might embrace the grape-pickers, it takes the name from “nebbia” that means “fog” in Italian; according to other people, as the grapes are covered with “pruina”, a substance that makes the skin of the berry similar to a barry covered by haze, again “Nebbiolo” comes from the “foggy berries” idea.
Its grapes give very structured wines suitable for long aging, but according to the soil, the result in the wine can be very different.
The history
Nebbiolo vine appears in documents from 1300, but its pick arrives in the mid-seventeenth century when, thanks to the new winemaking methods introduced in the Langhe by the King of Savoy, becomes the grape used for the production of Barolo wine, achieving great success even outside the region.
At the end of 1800 the three epidemics that hit the vines (powdery mildew, downy mildew and phylloxera) led to the reduction of this variety. Grape-growers were forced to cultivate Nebbiolo only in suitable areas, with good sun exposure.
