red grape
Nebbiolo
Ancient native grape of Piedmont, documented in the Langhe since at least the 13th century; the name is usually linked to nebbia ('fog'), for the autumn mists over the Langhe hills at harvest or the bloom on the ripe skins. It is genetically related to several old Piedmontese and Valtellina varieties.
The earliest-budding and latest-ripening of the great reds, harvested in mid-to-late October after almost everything else. This long hang time demands the best south- and southwest-facing calcareous-marl slopes of the Langhe; the calcareous marls of Barolo are its ideal terroir. Pale in colour but ferociously high in both tannin and acidity, it makes wines that are structured and long-lived rather than deeply coloured.
Structure tendencies
- body
- medium to medium-plus
- tannin
- high
- acidity
- high
- alcohol
- medium (often 14%+ but classically balanced)
tendencies in prose, as read by critics/consensus — not measured ordinals
Classic descriptors
red cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016raspberry
in your cellar: 6 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Château Pontet-Canet 2022black cherry
in your cellar: 15 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried rose
in your cellar: 3 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Gloria 2020Massolino Barolo 2016violet
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022potpourri
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010tar
in your cellar: 2 bottlesMayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Massolino Barolo 2016iron
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022truffle
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Laroque 2022licorice
in your cellar: 9 bottlesChâteau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022baking spice
in your cellar: 9 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016leather
in your cellar: 7 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016game
not in any of your bottles yettobacco
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried cherry
in your cellar: 3 bottlesBodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010mushroom
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015'Tar and roses' is the defining Nebbiolo signature — dried rose-petal perfume over a dark resinous tar base — joined by bright red cherry and a paradoxical pairing of pale colour with high tannin and high acidity. With age the fruit dries to dried cherry and the wine turns savoury: truffle, leather, game, tobacco, mushroom. Tar, iron and truffle are classical tasting associations, not literal mineral uptake (see docs/wine-pedagogy.md §3).