The Taste of Nebbiolo Wine Despite its tannic structure, the wine's fruity flavors of cherry and raspberries, supported with aromas of rose and anise, always seem to shine through. In cooler years, Nebbiolo gets a bit herbaceous with more sour cranberry fruit, rose hip and leather and red clay minerality.
The Nebbiolo is a late ripening grape and gives lightly coloured red wine very similar to the Pinot Nero, with floral and balsamic notes of liquorice, highly tannic when young, a good alcohol content and acidity, qualities that make it particularly suitable for aging.
Is Nebbiolo sweet or dry? Classic Nebbiolo are dry wines, however it is possible to produce sweet Nebbiolo, for example, in Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC winemakers produce sweet and even sparkling Nebbiolo wines.
Nebbiolo typically has lots of tannin and acidity; Pinot Noir usually contains much lighter tannins and lower acidity.
Nebbiolo is the grape used for top-quality wines like Barolo and Barbaresco and it's native to the Piemonte region in Italy. It's known for its intense red fruit aromas, high acidity, and high tannin content. Nebbiolo is suitable for aging even for decades.
Nebbiolo wines are known for their full bodied, rich, deep and intense taste. The bottles generally come with a high price tag, one of the reasons for this is that the Nebbiolo grapes can be very tricky to grow. They have very thick skins which make them an easy target for pests and disease.
Full Body. Think of that weight as a liquid scale, from water (light body) to heavy cream (full body) in your mouth. Nebbiolo is tricky because its looks are deceiving. Lighter in color, but a very full-bodied wine!
Region: Barolo and Barbaresco
The villages of Barolo and Barbaresco produce the most famous Nebbiolo wines in the world. The reason for this is their position high above the fog which produces wines with both bold fruit flavors, high tannin and higher potential alcohol.
Roero DOCG
Nebbiolo wines are every bit as intense and structured as Barolo (but usually at a fraction of the price). They also have Barbaresco's sweet fruit.
Nebbiolo produces lightly-colored red wines which can be highly tannic in youth with scents of tar and roses.
Moving up the scale into medium bodied wines, Nebbiolo is a fine example, found in Mexico, US, Piedmont in Italy and Australia.
Nebbiolo is a light ruby hue. Wines display sour cherry, herbs, dried flowers, truffle, leather, and tar. They are full-bodied and complex with high acidity and tannins.
The word Nebbiolo is derived from the Italian word nebbia which means fog. This is because in October when the grapes are harvested the area can be quiet foggy. The resulting wine from Nebbiolo grapes typically is lighter red in colour, but can take on an orange red appearance particularly on the rim of the wine.
Nebbiolo makes wines with high levels of acidity and tannins, making them a little tight and austere in their youth, but providing enough backbone to make them particularly ageworthy. The wines show cherry, plum and strawberry fruit, backed by floral notes like rose and violet, as well as leather, licorice and herbs.
Perhaps the best way of telling them apart is by the texture of the tannins. When young, the wines of both grapes would have a high level of grippy, if not harsh, tannins, which would mellow over some years of bottle ageing. Nebbiolo tannins would tend to be grainy, and Sangiovese tannins are more of dusty and powdery.
Wines from the Barolo DOCG must be 100% Nebbiolo and aged at least 38 months, 18 of those in wood barrels. The term “Riserva” can be used on the label when the wine has been cellared for at least five years.
If Pinot Noir is the world's most tantalising grape, Nebbiolo runs it a close second – for very similar reasons.
As with Nebbiolo, you'll get some floral and forest flavors in Brunello, but there are also notes of mint and herbs that give it an almost savory quality. Interestingly, despite being richer in color than Nebbiolo-based Barolo and Barbaresco, Brunello has more moderate tannins.
Barolo and Barbaresco are both made from the Nebbiolo grape in Piedmont, while Brunello di Montalcino is from Tuscany and must be 100% Sangiovese. Together they constitute some of Italy's finest and most long-lived wines.
Sangiovese has red fruit aromas, often with a bitter cherry or cranberry note; Nebbiolo a highly distinctive nose of dried fruits (think figs or prunes) allied with floral notes (roses or violets for many people) and quickly acquires secondary aromas of leather and tar.
Nebbiolo contains the most melatonin of any wine grape. Yes, this means that – if you're looking for a good night's sleep – Nebbiolo may be the wine to drink at dinner time.
Nebbiolo and Oak Aging
One of oak's major roles is to impart tannins and add to the complex flavors of the wine. Nebbiolo already has its own tannic structure coming from the seeds and the skins but still greatly benefits from the oak by fixating its color and adding layers of complexity.
Despite the appellations being so close, Nebbiolo's sensitivity to terroir does indeed make Barolo and Barbaresco different. We must remember though, that they are both made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes and exhibit the characteristic flavors of the grape and structure which is typical to Nebbiolo.
Generally speaking aeration tends improve red wines, as these have the higher of tannins. Varieties that benefit most from an hour of aeration include: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petite Sirah, Nebbiolo, Bordeaux, and Syrah to name a few.
Classic Italian red wines include Barolo and Barbaresco (both made from the Nebbiolo grape), Chianti and Chianti Classico (from the Sangiovese grape), Amarone and Valpolicella (from the Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella grapes), and Nero d'Avola wine (from the Nero d'Avola grape).