The Nebbiolo Mystique

This is an exciting wine with an exotic and mysterious nature. I taste it and my senses awaken; my imagination takes flight. This wine is wonderful with aged cheeses and peppercorns, baked salmon fillet covered with sesame seeds, garlic and crushed pepper.

With origins in the Piedmont region of Italy, Nebbiolo wine has been revered for more than 700 years. (Evidence of production of the wine has been traced back as far as the 13th century to a document written from the Castle of Rivoli.)

Today, the Nebbiolo grape is used to produce three of Italy’s finest wines: Barolo, Barbaresco and Gattinara. These names are exclusive to Italy for the same reason that a sparkling wine should be called Champagne only if it comes from the Champagne region of France.

Named for the mists—the nebbia—that settle over the vineyards during the cool mornings of Piedmont’s harvest season, the Nebbiolo is probably the most difficult grape to grow successfully. Like the mists, it is temperamental and unpredictable.

Bill Mosby grows and produces one of the finest Nebbiolo wines outside of Italy. His first Piedmont Nebbiolo vines found their way to his vineyards in the mid-1970s. Many California wine grape growers tried to discourage his passion for the Nebbiolo because they knew of its inherent difficulty and terroir sensitivity. That in itself only fueled his determination. Having realized much success with Pinot Noir—another difficult grape—he set out to learn all he could about the mysterious Nebbiolo. For more than ten years, he nurtured and studied these vines and grew to understand their temperamental nature.

What is the secret to producing a good Nebbiolo wine?

Essentially, according to Mosby, the soil should be of a heavy clay mixture; the vines should originate from very specific vineyards in the Piedmont; and one of two particular methods of fermentation should be employed. Today, even in Italy, there is experimentation and debate among Nebbiolo wine producers as to which method is better: traditional old-style or one of the newer methods being explored by several of the younger Italian producers.

The old style? After a gentle crushing of the grapes and a moderately hot fermentation with traditional punching down, the juice is left to "sit" with the skins for two weeks or more. The juice is then poured into large containers, or botte, made from Yugoslavian oak. The containers are reused year after year, some of these containers having been in use for more than a century. This old-style method disallows oak flavor interference with the unique Nebbiolo character.

The newer method uses smaller French oak barrels for the aging rather than the traditional botte. Some of the newer methods involve not only pumping over or using a submerged cap technique, but actually stirring the fermenting must. Proponents of the old-style method suggest that a more tannic wine will result from such stirring, while those in favor of it insist that the result will be a more flavorful wine.

Bill and Jeri Mosby recently returned to Italy to explore the intricacies of this debate. "I was not surprised to find that both methods result in excellent wine. However, right now I have to admit I’m leaning toward the old method. One of the reasons for my interest in Nebbiolo wines is that they are ‘different.’ They are Italian," Bill explains. "To age Nebbiolo in a French oak barrel seems to compromise part of that uniqueness—as if they are trying to make French wine from Italian grapes!"

So what is Bill Mosby’s ultimate plan—his own vision for his carefully tended Nebbiolo vines? With a sparkle in his eye, he explains: "Ours is one of the finest Nebbiolos outside of Italy. The ultimate goal is to produce a Nebbiolo wine that rivals even the best Barolos, Barbarescos and Gattinaras."

The Nebbiolo vines’ site-specific sensitivity means limited sources for the wine worldwide. And there are only a few areas inside and outside the Piedmont conducive to its cultivation—one select hillside of the Mosby vineyards, Sori-101, for example. Santa Barbara county residents and tasting club members enjoy a rare privilege—convenient access to Mosby wine.