Nebbiolo is a demanding vine, needing exactly the right soil type, a south-facing hillside, pruning and training. A calcareous tufa-based soil is ideal for this vine that buds early - towards the middle of April - and ripens later than most other varieties, around the middle of October.

Nebbiolo is the oldest indigenous red-grape vine of Piedmont and one of the noblest and most prestigious in Italy. Its name derives from ‘nebbia’, the Italian word for mist or fog: some say this is owing to the ‘misty’ look of its grapes, with their velvety covering, and others say that it is because the late-ripening grape is often harvested during early autumn fogs.