Nebbiolo is a red grape variety grown in the Piedmonte region of 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.

Nebbiolo makes wine with a distinct brown colour. They are usually long lived and often reward cellaring for a decade or so. 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

Some Award winning Australian Nebbiolo wines

At the 2007 Alternative Varieties Wine Show AAVWS there were 25 entries in the Nebbiolo class. Ten recieved medals.

Two were given gold medals: 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
• Casca Freschi Langhorne Creek
• Ceres Bridge Estate Geelong
• Chain of Ponds Adelaide Hills
• Chestnut Hill Vineyard Port Phillip Zone
• Coriole McLaren Vale
• Cow Hill Beechworth
• Delatite Winery Upper Goulburn
• Di Lusso Estate Mudgee
• Dromana Estate Mornington Peninsula
• Ferguson Falls Winery Geographe
• First Drop Barossa Valley
• Flat View Vineyard Clare Valley
• 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
• Moondarra Gippsland
• Mount Cole Wineworks Grampians
• Mount Franklin Estate Macedon Ranges
• Mount Surmon Clare Valley
• Oakworks Wines Riverland
• Parish Hill Wines Adelaide Hills
• Pasut Family Wines Murray Darling
• Pizzini Wines King Valley
• Pokolbin Estate Hunter Valley
• Primo Estate Adelaide Plains
• Rigel Wines Mornington Peninsula
• Rojo Wines Port Phillip Zone
• Roselea Estate Shoalhaven Coast
• Rutherglen Estates Rutherglen
• Sandhurst Ridge Bendigo
• Scaffidi Estate Adelaide Hills
• Sirromet Queensland Coastal
• Southern Highland Wines Southern Highlands
• Starvedog Lane McLaren Vale
• 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
• Trentham Estate Murray Darling
• Vinea Marson Heathcote
• Vineyard 28 Geographe
• Warrenmang Vineyard Pyrenees
• Witchmount Estate Sunbury
• Wombats Run King Valley
• Yalumba Wine Company Barossa Valley
• Yandoit Hill Winery Bendigo
• Yering Station Yarra Valley

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