Nebbiolo is a red grape variety grown in the Piedmonte region of North West Italy. It is the variety used to make the highly regarded Barolo and Barbaresco wines, named after the villages of their origin.

In Australia this variety, like many other Italian wine varieties, is attracting some interest.

Nebbiolo has the reputation of being a difficult grape to grow. It is a variety that needs to matched closely with the appropriate microclimate. Those growers and winemakers who have persisted have been rewarded with some excellent Australian Nebbiolo wines.

The flavour of Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo makes wine with a distinct brown colour. They are usually long lived and often reward cellaring for a decade or so. In some ways Nebbiolo wines resemble Pinot Noirs in the way that they age into wines with soft rich tannins. The wines have rich flavours with a nose most often described as 'tar and roses'.

Some other flavours and aromas to look for are spicy, chocolate, leathery and earthy flavours. Think of a forest floor.

Food and wine pairing for Nebbiolo

As a general rule of thumb, any food you could serve with mushrooms is suitable to accompany Nebbiolo. Suggested other food matches with Nebbiolo wines are grilled steak, slow cooked winter casseroles and game. At a long lunch for wine makers prepared by Mildura chef Stefano di Pieri I enjoyed braised ox cheek with polenta as a dish specially designed to accompany an award winning Nebbiolo.

For an authentic touch you could try this variety with a Bollito misto, which is a Northern Italian dish of mixed boiled meats, sausages and offal served with a garlicky basil sauce. Another Northern Italian suggestion is a Brasato al Barolo, roughly similar to Beef Burgundy, but with the famous Piedmontese expression of Nebbiolo. More Food Pairing Suggestions for Nebbiolo Pizzini Wines 2002 and Tar and Roses 2006. Brokenwood wines recieved a silver medal. Bronze medals were won by Bacchus Hill Winery, Bowe Lees Wines, Chain of Ponds, Coriole, Mt Surmon, Rutherglen Estates, and Trentham Estate.

Some Australian growers of Nebbiolo include

• Aldinga Bay McLaren Vale
• Amulet Vineyard Beechworth
• Arrivo Adelaide Hills
• Aventine Wines Granite Belt
• Bacchus Hill Sunbury
• Ballandeen Estate Granite Belt
• Boireann Granite Belt
• Bowe Lees Adelaide Hills
• Brokenwood Wines Hunter Valley
• Brown Brothers King Valley
• Capel Vale Geographe
• Carlaminda Estate Geographe
• Carlei Estate Yarra Valley
• Casa Freschi Langhorne Creek
• Ceres Bridge Estate Geelong
• Chain of Ponds Adelaide Hills
• Chestnut Hill Vineyard Port Phillip Zone
• Coriole McLaren Vale
• Counterpoint Vineyard Pyrenees
• Cow Hill Beechworth
• Delatite Winery Upper Goulburn
• Di Lusso Estate Mudgee
• Dromana Estate Mornington Peninsula
• Ferguson Falls Winery Geographe
• Fermoy Estate Margaret River
• First Drop Barossa Valley
• Flat View Vineyard Clare Valley
• Flying Fish Cove Margaret River
• Galli Estate Sunbury
• Geographe Wines Geographe
• Glen Creek Wines Upper Goulburn
• Glenwillow Vineyard Bendigo
• Grove Estate Wines Hilltops
• Happs Margaret River
• Hidden Creek Granite Belt
• Jasper Hill Heathcote
• Kenton Hill Adelaide Hills
• La Cantina King Valley King Valley
• Lashmar Kangaroo Island
• Longview Vineyard Adelaide Hills
• Louee Wines Mudgee
• Luke Lambert Wines Heathcote
• Maglieri McLaren Vale
• McIvor Estate Heathcote
• Monument Vineyard Central Ranges Zone
• Moondarra Gippsland
• Moppity Vineyards Hilltops
• Mount Cole Wineworks Grampians
• Mount Franklin Estate Macedon Ranges
• Mount Surmon Clare Valley
• Mount Towrong Macedon Ranges
• Oak Works Riverland
• Parish Hill Wines Adelaide Hills
• Pasut Family Wines Murray Darling
• Peel Ridge Peel
• Philip Lobley Wines Upper Goulburn
• Pizzini Wines King Valley
• Pokolbin Estate Hunter Valley
• Primo Estate Adelaide Plains
• Protero Adelaide Hills
• Rigel Wines Mornington Peninsula
• Rojo Wines Port Phillip Zone
• Roselea Estate Shoalhaven Coast
• Rutherglen Estates Rutherglen
• Sandhurst Ridge Bendigo
• SC Pannell McLaren Vale
• Scaffidi Estate Adelaide Hills
• Serafino Wines McLaren Vale
• Sirromet Queensland Coastal
• Southern Highland Wines Southern Highlands
• Starvedog Lane Adelaide Hills
• Stefano Lubiano Southern Tasmania
• Stuart Wines Heathcote
• Swings & Roundabouts Margaret River
• Talunga Adelaide Hills
• Tannery Lane Bendigo
• Tar and Roses Nagambie Lakes
• Tenafeate Creek Wines Adelaide Plains
• Thorn-Clarke Wines Barossa Valley
• Toppers Mountain New England
• Trandari Hilltops
• Trentham Estate Murray Darling
• Vinea Marson Heathcote
• Vineyard 28 Geographe
• Warrenmang Vineyard Pyrenees
• Witchmount Estate Sunbury
• Yalumba Wine Company Barossa Valley
• Yandoit Hill Winery Bendigo
• Yering Station Yarra Valley

Do you know of any other wineries using Nebbiolo? Contact me and tell me about it.