La Nebbia – 2002 Nebbiolo

Nebbiolo is a grape native to foggy Piemonte in Northern Italy. It is right at home in our Sonoma Mountain vineyard where it receives ample morning sun and afternoon shade. A dry red with good acidity, our 2002 “La Nebbia” offers earthy & dried cherry flavors.

“La Nebbia” in Italian means “foggy”, Our Nebbiolo vineyards are appropriately situated on foggy Sonoma Mountain. Here, the Nebbiolo vine is treated in a way reminiscent of it’s foggy homeland in Northern Italy. The hillside slopes of Alba receive routine doses of cool, autumn fog, enlives the vine. We have embraced this unique gift of nature to refine and reveal the grand quality of the Nebbiolo grape.

About the Nebbiolo varietal (as described by Viansa):

The fog (nebbia in Italian) that rolls over the hills of northern piedmont and the regions nearby, helps the Nebbiolo grape ripen properly, thereby creating some of Italy’s finest red wines . Wines made from Nebbiolo grapes are known by a variety of names including barolo, barbaresco, gattinara, ghemme, and spanna. They’re characterized as being rich, full-bodied, and chewy. These wines often have a high alcohol content (13 percent and above), as well as fairly substantial tannins, both of which are easily supported by the wine’s hefty fruit flavors. The aroma and flavor of these dark-colored wines are suggestive of chocolate, licorice, raspberries, truffles, and violets. Nebbiolo wines generally require significant aging to develop and soften. Although recognized as one of the world’s great wine grapes, Nebbiolo has not been planted in significant amounts outside of northwest Italy. Very little has been planted in California or other U.S. growing regions. The Nebbiolo grape is also known as Chiavennasca, Picotener, Pugent, and Spanna or Spana.

This wine is only found that the Viansa Winery (my favorite winery) for $24.00. (only $18 for wine club members!)

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So because I’m a Viansa wine club member, a few bottles of La Nebbia was sent to me…  and I must say, it was an interesting taste that surprisingly impressed me…. the bottle itself was unique — the neck of the bottle was organically shaped and wavy, kind of like it jumped out of a Salvador Dali painting — not sure what the shape’s purpose was, nonetheless it was cool.   Like the shape of the bottle, the taste was also unique, nothing that I’ve ever tasted before. It was very earthy, and slightly bold, but the tannins had a nice finish. In all honesty, I wouldn’t buy that bottle again only becuause there are many over $20 dollar bottles of wine I would rather be drinking, unless it was sent to me involuntarily, but I did enjoy it nonetheless.