Nebbiolo Wine in Australia

If you like difficult and eccentric wines then this variety is for you. Even Oz Clarke says For years I couldn't get to grips with Nebbiolo.

Nebbiolo is a red grape variety grown in the Piedmont 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, as many Australian winegrowers will tell you. 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. The wines 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.

Nebbiolo and Food Pairing

In Daring Pairings Evan Goldstein recommends pairing Nebbiolo with Braised Duck Leg Ragu with Chestnut Polenta and Green Olives.

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.

See this readers question and my answer about Barolo

Australian Wineries Using Nebbiolo

• 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
• Carpe Diem Margaret River
• Casa Freschi Langhorne Creek
• Ceres Bridge Estate Geelong
• Chain of Ponds Adelaide Hills
• Chestnut Hill Vineyard Port Phillip Zone
• Clovely Estate South Burnett
• Coriole McLaren Vale
• Counterpoint Vineyard Pyrenees
• Cow Hill Beechworth
• Darling Estate King Valley
• 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
• Indigo Wine Company Beechworth
• 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
• Montefalco Vineyard Porongurup
• 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
• Pengally Lane Wines Bendigo
• Philip Lobley Wines Upper Goulburn
• Pizzini Wines King Valley
• Pokolbin Estate Hunter Valley
• Primo Estate Adelaide Plains
• Protero Adelaide Hills
• Queely Pyrenees
• 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
• Seaview McLaren Vale
• Serafino Wines McLaren Vale
• Sirromet Queensland Coastal
• Soumah Yarra Valley
• Southern Highland Wines Southern Highlands
• Spook Hill Wines Riverland
• 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
• Thick as Theives Yarra Valley
• Thorn-Clarke Wines Barossa Valley
• Toppers Mountain New England
• Trandari Hilltops
• Trentham Estate Murray Darling
• Vinea Marson Heathcote
• Vineyard 28 Geographe
• Warrenmang Vineyard Pyrenees
• Way Wood Wines McLaren Vale
• Witchmount Estate Sunbury
• Yalumba Wine Company Barossa Valley
• Yandoit Hill Winery Bendigo
• Yering Station Yarra Valley