The alluring autumnal nuances of Langhe Nebbiolo!

Autumn is here, bringing with it a rich palette of colours, scents and flavours that adorn the countryside and our tables alike. Nowhere encapsulates the very essence of this beautiful season more than the Piedmont in Italy.

Nestled in the foothills of the Alps, this part of Italy, and more particularly the Langhe region within it, is, at least in the minds of wine lovers like myself, seemingly perpetually cloaked in morning mists and burnished vineyards, its landscape as atmospheric as it is abundant. It is surely the most autumnal of all the winemaking regions on earth, defined, as it is, by the local cuisine rich with a bountiful array of truffles, mushrooms and game, and wines rooted in structure, perfume and earthy elegance, that seem to inherently belong to the season itself. Indeed, the noble Nebbiolo grape at the heart of the region’s most renowned and age-worthy wines, takes its name from the nebbia morning fog that creeps through the vineyards and hillsides throughout the autumn months.

For a long time Nebbiolo grapes from younger vines, lighter vintages, or less favoured sites, were traditionally bottled as Langhe Nebbiolo – a role formalised with the creation of the Langhe DOC in 1994 – and were very much seen as “second wines” to their much more prestigious counterparts Barolo and Barbaresco.

Having taken over the family estate at Roccheviberti in 2008, Claudio Viberti has been very much at the forefront of a new generation of Langhe winemakers that have been instrumental, not only in revolutionising the character and reputation of the sometimes unyielding and hard traditional style of Barolo and Barbaresco wines, but also, through the careful application of the same innovative and focussed processes for their Langhe Nebbiolos, of creating a category of wine that possesses all of the grape’s hallmark perfume, elegance and earthy complexity in a much more immediately approachable style.

The 2020 Langhe Nebbiolo from Roccheviberti is a true “baby Barolo”. Not simply an introduction to the great wines of the Piedmont region, but a wine of authenticity and character that reflects the landscape and traditions of the Langhe whilst offering an accessible, fresh, and true taste of Nebbiolo’s earthy charm at a suitably seductive price.

2020 Azienda Agricola Roccheviberti Langhe Nebbiolo

The wine comes from vineyards with an average age of 30 years and an average altitude of 350 meters, planted across the three Barolo crus of Mariondino, Rocche di Castiglione and Bricco Boschis comprising a mix of sand over tuffeau, clay, sandstone and marl soils. Having been fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel, the wine is aged in a collection of 2000, 2500 and 500 Litre French oak barrels for 18 months, followed by a period of 6 months resting in the bottle prior to release.

The nose is immediately and fragrantly expressive with notes of violets and rosehip, effortlessly curled around hints of tar, dried liquorice and woodland undergrowth. The palate is no less complex, but seamlessly infused, with ripe, fresh and crunchy autumnal bramble fruit, surrounded by herbaceous, earthy and gamey nuances. The tannins, rounded and textured, add into the savoury intensity of the wine, whilst providing focus and definition to the lush, bright and juicy finish.

This is a wine made for the season – vivid, earthy, characterful and refined – an authentic taste of Piedmont’s autumn captured in a glass.