Nebbiolo (Nebieul in the Piedmontese dialect) is the red wine grape variety that grows in this region where the DOCG* wines known to the rest of the world as Barbaresco, Barolo, Gattinara and Ghemme are made. The word Nebbiolo comes from the Piedmontese word nebbia (fog). Harvest time is, usually, around late October which is when substantial fog sets into the Langhe region where the most of the  Nebbiolo vineyards are situated. It’s widely believed that the grapes are indigenous to Piedmont but DNA evidence has hinted that it could even have originated in

Lombardy though i’m not going to be the one telling the Piedmontese that.  Pliny the Elder waxed lyrical about the outstanding quality of the wine produced a little to the northwest of today’s Barolo region but the Piedmontese believe that his description of the wine certainly proves that he was talking about wine made from this grape. Be that the case or  not, the first time the wine was actually mentioned was in 1268. The punishment for cutting down the vines was extremely severe and in the 15^th century the laws of La Morra (now the Barolo zone) decreed that repeat offenders would have their hands cut off!

We found these dates and thought they would make interesting reading and we quote:

• 1799: the Austrian army defeats the French on the plain of Genola (Cuneo) on the 4th November. Two days later the army victoriously enters the town of Bra (Cuneo) and the chief-commander general De Melas instructs the villagers to  bring “a wagon of excellent Nebbiolo“. This document is conserved in the parish archives and is the oldest record of Barbaresco and its wines.
• 1870: a bottle conserved at the Drago farm of San Rocco Seno d’Elvio has a hand-written lable with the words Barbaresco 1870. Then the hamlet of San Rocco Seno d’Elvio was part of the Barbaresco village and this is the oldest bottle where the word “Barbaresco” is used to identify the wine.
• 1894: an historical date, when Barbaresco “comes of age”. Domizio Cavazza, headmaster of the Royal Wine-making School of Alba buys the castle of Barbaresco with it’s properties in the areas of Pora and Ovello. In the same year he founded the Social Cellar of Barbaresco in conjunction with about ten local vineyard owners. He formulates modern methods  for Nebbiolo wine-making and launched the Barbaresco wine on the international markets to join the already famous Barolo … in you are adjusted the austere gifts of your elder brother, with you goblets do not need to be limited as with your heavier rivals, to you every hour is favourable and every dish a good companion (from Ode to the Barbaresco, 1897, Domizio. Cavazza).
• 1899: The work of the Social Cellar and of other illustrious winemakers of the village (Giovanni Gaja, Gioachino Deforville, DeGiacomi) bears excellent fruit. Teobaldo Calissano, a Member of Parliament in Rome, presents a white paper for a law to  ”safeguard of the true wines Barolo and Barbaresco” from frauds and falsifications”. When he saw how astonished the other members were, he invited them to the Langhe hills to taste the wines.
• 1908: on 18th October, following an invitation by Major, Dr. L. Dogliotti, the Barbaresco’s producers finalized the Union for the Tutorship of the production and trade of the authentic Nebbiolo for Barbaresco. A few weeks later, their example is followed by their Barolo colleagues, that formulate the “Pro-Barolo Association” using the same parameters. In this way they tried to prevent fraud in this industry and protect their two precious wines.
• 1912: an unlucky date because it was in that year that Domizio Cavazza died and with him his energy and effort – ironically the first world war began only a few months later and a difficult period for the wine began.

• 1922: another “black” year, because  The Social Cellar of Barbaresco shut down ten years after the death of its founder. The vines were still grown on the hills, but after the economic self-sufficiency rules imposed by fascism, too many  vineyards were converted to seeded fields.
• The production of the precious wine was kept under control by the wine traders of Alba, who bought grapes at a very low prices and were more interested in self enrichment than in the wine itself.
• 1926: the Barbaresco wine origin area was officially delimited and was later enlarged to include, 1933,  the whole region of Neive, in 1933 and Barolo and Barbaresco were recognized as “typical wines of excellence“.
• 1940 – 1950: The 40′s and 50′s were difficult years for Italy because it had to recovered from the devastation of the second world war. In these years, the Barolo continued to be “the king of wines and the wine of kings“, while the Barbaresco, at the mercy of grapes brokers, had a much harder time and became known as the little brother, a reputation that survived until the 60′s.
• 1958: during this year the Barbaresco Producers Winery (Produttori del Barbaresco) was founded, with a rebirth of the whole area. The association, was created by the Fr. Fiorino Marengo, to protect  the growers from the uncertainties of the market and carry on the previous work of Cavazza.
• 1961: the Gaja winery of Barbaresco decides to make wine only from its own grapes, without buying in from the outside anymore. It stops production of Barolo and the Barbaresco becomes the “flag” wine for the Gaja winery, that 30 years later would become the most famous “griffe” of italian winemaking. .
• 1966: The Presidential Decree of 23rd April acknowledged Barbaresco as a D.O.C. wine
• 1980: with the Presidential Decree of 3rd October Barbaresco grows to a D.O.C.G. wine.
• 1997: under the guide of the Consorzio di Tutela, the 4villages of the oringinal area begin the official mapping of the sub-areas of Barbaresco wine production, as reported on the map prepared by the Enoteca Regionale.

*di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG)