Nebbiolo red wine variety in Australia

If you like difficult and eccentric wines then this variety is for you. Even British wine writer Oz Clarke says

"For years I couldn't get to grips with Nebbiolo"

Nebbiolo Grapes at Glenwillow Vineyard in the Bendigo wine region

Nebbiolo in Italy

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 Piedmontese villages of their origin.

Some is grown in neighbouring Lombardy as well.

There is some Nebbiolo in California and Washington State but the general consensus in the US is that it has not been a successful import.

Nebbiolo grapes ready for processing at Virago Vineyard in the Beechworth Region, NE Victoria

More Italian red wine varieties used in Australia

One of the best books about Italian wine grape varieties is Ian d'Agata's Native Wine Grapes of Italy

Nebbiolo in Australia

See this article about the trials and tribulations of establishing a Nebbiolo vineyard in Beechworth

Where Nebbiolo is grown in Australia

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. Consumers too find their first introduction to the variety a little strange. The colour, aroma and mouthfeel are not what your average Shiraz drinker is used to.

It is a variety that needs to matched closely with the appropriate microclimate. It has been tried in most Australian wine regions but it seems that the most successful Australian Nebbiolo wines as far as critics and judges have come from the Grampians, the Mornington Peninsula, and King Valley in Victoria and the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale and Clare Valley in South Australia.

Those growers and winemakers who have persisted have been rewarded with some excellent Australian Nebbiolo wines.

Want to taste a range of Nebbiolo wines?

Try this 2 X 6 pack of Aussie Nebs from 6 producers in 6 regions

Details here

A T Richardson Grampians
Adelina Wines Clare Valley
Aldinga Bay McLaren Vale
Alpha Box and Dice McLaren Vale
Amato Vino Margaret River
Arfion Yarra Valley
Arlewood Estate Margaret River
Arrivo Adelaide Hills
Bacchus Hill Sunbury
Ballandeen Estate Granite Belt
Barrecas Geographe
Bay of Shoals Kangaroo Island
Ben Haines Wiens Yarra Valley
Bent Road Granite Belt
Bimbadgen Hunter Valley
Bioreann Granite Belt
Bird On A Wine Yarra Valley
Black Stump Wines Clare Valley
Born and Raised Heathcote
Bowe Lees Adelaide Hills
Brokenwood Wines Hunter Valley
Bromley Geelong
Brown Brothers King Valley
Brown Brothers King Valley
Bruno and George Barossa Valley
Bull Lane Wine Company Heathcote
Calico Town Beechworth
Capel Vale Geographe
Cappa Stone Murray Darling
Carlei Estate Yarra Valley
Carpe Diem Margaret River
Casa Freschi Langhorne Creek
Cassegrain Hastings River
Castagna Vineyard Beechworth
Ceres Bridge Estate Geelong
Chain of Ponds Adelaide Hills
Chestnut Hill Vineyard Port Phillip Zone
Clovely Estate South Burnett
Cockfighters Ghost Hunter Valley
Coriole McLaren Vale
Crowe Canberra
Cupitt's Winery Shoalhaven Coast
Dal Zotto Estate King Valley
Darling Estate King Valley
David Hook Wines Hunter Valley
DCB Wine Yarra Valley
Deep Woods Estate Margaret River
Della Fay Margaret River
Denton Viewhill Vineyard Yarra Valley
Dhiaga Mornington Peninsula
Di Lusso Estate Mudgee
Di Sciascio Family Wines Heathcote
Domaine De Binet Hunter Valley
Domenica Beechworth
Dromana Estate Mornington Peninsula
Emilia Northern Tasmania
Ernest Schuetz Wines Mudgee
Feathertop Alpine Valleys
Ferguson Falls Winery Geographe
Fermoy Estate Margaret River
Ferraro Wines Alpine Valleys
Fetherston Yarra Valley
First Drop Barossa Valley
Fletcher Pyrenees
Flying Fish Cove Margaret River
Freeman Vineyards Hilltops
Galli Estate Heathcote
Garden of Earthly Delights Heathcote
Giaconda Beechworth
Glandore Estate Hunter Valley
Glenlofty Pyrenees
Glenwillow Vineyard Bendigo
Grant Burge Barossa Valley
Grape Farm Winery Pyrenees
Grove Estate Wines Hilltops
Happs Margaret River
Hay Shed Hill Wines Margaret River
Henschke Eden Valley
Heritage Estate Granite Belt
Hidden Creek Granite Belt
Il Modo Murray Darling
Indigo Wine Company Beechworth
Jasper Hill Heathcote
Kellivale Geographe
Kellivale Wines Geographe
Killara Estate Yarra Valley
Kirrihill Estates Clare Valley
L A S Vino Margaret River
La Cantina King Valley King Valley
La Fattoria Perth Hills
La Prova Adelaide Hills
La Villa Northern Tasmania
Lambrook Adelaide Hills
Langmeil Barossa Valley
Lethbridge Wines Geelong
Lino Ramble McLaren Vale
Longview Vineyard Adelaide Hills
Loom McLaren Vale
Louee Wines Mudgee
Luke Lambert Wines Yarra Valley
Mada Wines Canberra
Mayer Yarra Valley
McIvor Estate Heathcote
Merindoc Heathcote
Merkel King Valley
Millbrook Winery Perth Hills
Montefalco Vineyard Porongurup
Monument Vineyard Central Ranges Zone
Moondarra Gippsland
Mount Avoca Pyrenees
Mount Cole Wineworks Grampians
Mount Franklin Estate Macedon Ranges
Mount Towrong Macedon Ranges
Mountainside Wines Grampians
Mr Barval Fine Wines Margaret River
Musk Lane Macedon Ranges
Next Crop Wines Langhorne Creek
Ngeringa Adelaide Hills
Nick Spence Wines Tumbarumba
Nillumbik Estate Yarra Valley
Nocture Margaret River
Nuova Scuola South Burnett
Oak Works Riverland
Out of Step Yarra Valley
Oxenbury Beechworth
Paracombe Wines Adelaide Hills
Parish Hill Wines Adelaide Hills
Paul Osicka Heathcote
Peel Ridge Peel
Philip Lobley Wines Upper Goulburn
Pike and Joyce Adelaide Hills
Pizzini Wines King Valley
Pokolbin Estate Hunter Valley
Pondalowie Bendigo
Prancing Horse Estate Mornington Peninsula
Primo Estate McLaren Vale
Protero Adelaide Hills
Provenance Wines Geelong
Quealy Mornington Peninsula
Ravensworth Wines Canberra
Red Feet King Valley
Ringer Reef Winery Alpine Valleys
Rochford Wines Yarra Valley
Ros Ritchie Upper Goulburn
Rowlee Wines Orange
Rowsley Fault Vineyards Geelong
Rutherglen Estates Rutherglen
Sam Miranda Wines King Valley
Sandhurst Ridge Bendigo
SC Pannell McLaren Vale
Scaffidi Estate Adelaide Hills
Semprevino Adelaide Hills
Serafino Wines McLaren Vale
serrat Yarra Valley
Shadowfax Vineyard and Winery Geelong
Shobbrook Wines Barossa Valley
Signor Vino Riverina
Sirromet Granite Belt
Soumah Yarra Valley
Spider Bill Wines Adelaide Hills
Spook Hill Wines Riverland
Star Lane Beechworth
Stuart Wines Yarra Valley
SubRosa Grampians
Sum of the Few Pyrenees
Symphony Hill Wines Granite Belt
Taltarni Pyrenees
Tar and Roses Nagambie Lakes
Tenafeate Creek Wines Adelaide Plains
Tertini Wines Southern Highlands
The Hairy Arm Heathcote
Thick as Thieves Yarra Valley
Thorn-Clarke Wines Barossa Valley
Toppers Mountain New England
Tractorless Vineyard Southern Highlands
Trandari Hilltops
Traviarti Beechworth
Trentham Estate Murray Darling
Tumbalong Hills Gundagai
Unico Zelo Adelaide Hills
Varney Wines McLaren Vale
Vinea Marson Heathcote
Vineyard 28 Geographe
Virago Beechworth
Warrenmang Vineyard Pyrenees
Way Wood Wines McLaren Vale
Yalumba Wine Company Eden Valley
Yarra Peaks Yarra Valley

Last Update 3 August 2021

Award Wining Nebbiolo Wines

At the 2020 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show 18 Nebbiolo wines were judged. Three Gold medals were awarded and one bronze medal. Gold medals were given to Longview 2018 Saturnus Nebbiolo (Adelaide Hills) Protero 2018 Nebbiolo (Adelaide Hills) and Serafino 2019 Bellisimo Nebbiolo (McLaren Vale).

Nebbiolo is one of the varieties described in the book What Varietal is That?

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

Daring pairings suggests food pairing for Alternative varietal wines

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 dishes.

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.

Brasato al Barolo is a classic dish of a large piece of beef slowly braised in a Barolo wine. You can cheat a little by not using 100 Euro a bottle wine as discussed in this Q and A.

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.

More Italian red wine varieties used in Australia

One of the best books about Italian wine grape varieties is Ian d'Agata's Native Wine Grapes of Italy

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