“It was good to be reintroduced to this varietal and to taste an Italian nebbiolo that, while young and reasonably priced, did not belt the palate with a bitter tannic aftertaste,” writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER. 

I’ve tried a few wines since my return from an overseas holiday and the one that has so far stood out is a nebbiolo, a Benevelli Piero Langhe Nebbiolo 2023 that costs $40.

This is a good price for a wine that comes from the Piemonte region of Italy.  It also compares with a local nebbiolo, the Ravensworth Hilltops Nebbiolo 2023, which is $43 a bottle. I’d tried a glass of the prior vintage Ravensworth at the Symposium wine bar and found it more-than-acceptable, with layered floral characteristics that seemed to make a perfect duet with full-flavoured fish, but especially with roasted meat.

I called John Ings, of Canberra Wine and Spirit Merchants, to ask if he knew of any other local makers of this varietal. He tentatively mentioned one maker but was only certain about Brian Martin’s Ravensworth.

He said: “This grape needs some age to be really good and I have some of Brian’s from 2018 for around $60.” I said I’d make the trip into Civic to buy at least one bottle. 

A website told me that the name nebbiolo derives from nebbia, the Italian word for “fog”. This is likely from one of two factors related to this difficult-to-grow grape: the white, powder-like natural bloom on the grapes that appears during harvest season or from the fact that the best nebbiolo sites are located above the fog that collects in the valleys below where the grapes are grown. The latter idea sounds more romantic.

My spreadsheet shows that in 2022 I tried an Italian nebbiolo vintage 2019 for again $40 but found it to be astringent and the tannins harsh, so it was good to be reintroduced to this varietal and to taste an Italian wine that, while young and reasonably priced, did not belt the palate with a bitter tannic (steeped tea) aftertaste.  

The wine I tried is a far cry from some of the barolo or barbaresco wines made from nebbiolo but marketed by their locale, with this varietal being very terroir sensitive.

The barolo wines in particular are quite expensive. In 2020 I waxed lyrical about a 2012 Trediberri Barolo that, at the time, cost me $160 a bottle: it was a celebration of the lifting of one element of the covid lockdown and the madness of the times was reflected in me throwing my money at this superb but expensive wine.

In any event, with a nudge to the high tannins in nebbiolo, barolo requires wines to be stored for three years before release, with barbaresco needing  two.

This period of holding before release obviously adds to the costs to winemakers, but also translates to higher quality, reinforcing John Ings’ comment about this varietal needing age to be truly on form: I’ll definitely get on the bus to pick up that 2018 Ravensworth he mentioned.

“I told my wife a man is like wine, he gets better with age. She locked me in the cellar.” –Rodney Dangerfield  

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