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

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.

• Adelina Wines Clare Valley
• Aldinga Bay McLaren Vale
• Alpha Box and Dice McLaren Vale
• Amato Vino Margaret River
• Arelwood Margaret River
• Arfion Yarra Valley
• Arrivo Adelaide Hills
• ATR Wines Grampians
• Attwood Wines Macedon Ranges
• Ballandean 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 Wire Yarra Valley
• Black Stump Wines Clare Valley
• Born and Raised Heathcote
• Box Grove Vineyard Nagambie Lakes
• Brokenwood Wines Hunter Valley
• Bromley Geelong
• Bruno and George Barossa Valley
• Bull Lane Wine Company Heathcote
• Calico Town Rutherglen
• 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
• Chalk Hill Winery McLaren Vale
• Cherabino Margaret River
• Chestnut Hill Vineyard Port Phillip Zone
• Claymore Clare Valley
• Clovely Estate South Burnett
• Coates Wines McLaren Vale
• Cockfighters Ghost Hunter Valley
• 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
• De Bertolis Rutherglen Estates Rutherglen
• 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
• Elderslie Adelaide Hills
• Emilia Northern Tasmania
• Emilian Yarra Valley
• Ernest Schuetz Wines Mudgee
• Feathertop Alpine Valleys
• Ferguson Falls Winery Geographe
• Fermoy Estate Margaret River
• Ferngrove Vineyards Frankland 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
• Goon Tycoons Margaret River
• Grant Burge Barossa Valley
• Grape Farm Winery Pyrenees
• Green Door Wines Geographe
• Grove Estate Wines Hilltops
• Happs Margaret River
• Hay Shed Hill Wines Margaret River
• Heathcote Estate Heathcote
• Henschke Eden Valley
• Heritage Estate Granite Belt
• Hidden Creek Granite Belt
• Il Cattivo Currency Creek
• Il Modo Murray Darling
• Indigo Wine Company Beechworth
• Jasper Hill Heathcote
• Jayden Ong Yarra Valley
• Kellivale Geographe
• Killara Estate Yarra Valley
• Kirrihill Estates Clare Valley
• Kyneton Ridge Macedon Ranges
• 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
• Lingo Adelaide Hills
• Lino Ramble McLaren Vale
• Longview Vineyard Adelaide Hills
• Luke Lambert Wines Yarra Valley
• Mada Wines Canberra
• Mayer Yarra Valley
• McIvor Estate Heathcote
• Merindoc Heathcote
• Merkel King Valley
• Michelini Alpine Valleys
• Millbrook Winery Perth Hills
• Miners Ridge Grampians
• 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
• Nepenthe Adelaide Hills
• New Era Adelaide Hills
• Ngeringa Adelaide Hills
• Nick Spencer Wines Tumbarumba
• Nillumbik Estate Yarra Valley
• Nocturne Margaret River
• Nuova Scuola South Burnett
• Oak Works Riverland
• Olive Hills Estate Rutherglen
• Out of Step Yarra Valley
• Oxenbury Beechworth
• Paracombe Wines Adelaide Hills
• Paul Osicka Heathcote
• Peel Ridge Peel
• Petronio Yarra Valley
• Philip Lobley Wines Upper Goulburn
• Pike and Joyce Adelaide Hills
• Pipan Steel Alpine Valleys
• 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
• Quin Barossa Valley
• Ravensworth Wines Canberra
• Red Feet King Valley
• Redheads Barossa Valley
• Renzaglia Central Ranges Zone
• Ringer Reef Winery Alpine Valleys
• Rochford Wines Yarra Valley
• Rokkwell Granite Belt
• Ros Ritchie Upper Goulburn
• Rowlee Wines Orange
• Rowsley Fault Vineyards Geelong
• Saddlers Creek Wines Hunter Valley
• Saffron Gramophone NE Vic
• Sam Miranda Wines King Valley
• Sandhurst Ridge Bendigo
• SC Pannell McLaren Vale
• Scaffidi Estate Adelaide Hills
• Semprevino Adelaide Hills
• Sentio Beechworth
• Serafino Wines McLaren Vale
• Serrat Yarra Valley
• Shadowfax Vineyard and Winery Geelong
• Shobbrook Wines Barossa Valley
• Signor Vino Riverina
• Sirromet Granite Belt
• Skigh Margaret River
• Smithbrook Pemberton
• Soumah Yarra Valley
• South by South West Margaret River
• 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
• Syrahmi Heathcote
• Taltarni Pyrenees
• Tambo Gippsland
• Tar and Roses Nagambie Lakes
• Tenafeate Creek Wines Adelaide Plains
• Tertini Wines Southern Highlands
• The Hairy Arm Yarra Valley
• The Happy Winemaker Heathcote
• Thick as Theives Yarra Valley
• Thorn-Clarke Wines Barossa Valley
• Three Drops Mount Barker
• Toppers Mountain New England
• Tractorless Vineyard Southern Highlands
• Trandari Hilltops
• Traviarti Beechworth
• Trentham Estate Murray Darling
• Tumblong Hills Gundagai
• Unico Zelo Adelaide Hills
• Varney Wines McLaren Vale
• Vinea Marson Heathcote
• Vineyard 28 Geographe
• Vino Intrepido Heathcote
• Virago Beechworth
• Watson Family Wines Margaret River
• Way Wood Wines McLaren Vale
• Whitton Farm Canberra
• XO Wine Co Adelaide Hills
• Yalumba Wine Company Eden Valley
• Yarra Edge Yarra Valley
• Yarra Peaks Yarra Valley

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

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