Nebbiolo is one of Italy’s most revered red grape varieties, famed for producing complex, long-lived wines with pale colour, high acidity, and firm tannins. While most celebrated in Barolo and Barbaresco—where it yields powerful, layered wines with notes of rose, tar, cherry, and earth—Nebbiolo also thrives in the northern reaches of Piedmont, in lesser-known appellations like Gattinara, Ghemme, Boca, and Carema. These Alpine expressions are often more mineral, lifted, and finely structured, with excellent ageing potential and a strong sense of place. Known as Chiavennasca in Lombardy’s Valtellina, the grape takes on a lighter, more savoury profile, often grown on steep, terraced vineyards. Though challenging to cultivate, Nebbiolo rewards attentive winemaking with wines of remarkable transparency and depth, capable of reflecting both vineyard and vintage with precision.
