The Nebbiolo grape

For many wine critics, Nebbiolo is the finest grape in the whole of Italy. It's been described as Italy's answer to Pinot Noir, and while the flavour profiles are very different, it's not a bad analogy.

Like Pinot, Nebbiolo reflects particularly well the soil on which it is grown; like Pinot it can be temperamental and difficult to get right. And like Pinot it has shown a marked reluctance to travel.

Despite the presence of Italian-named families across the world, Nebbiolo remains not just a grape grown almost solely in Italy, but one which has barely moved out of its Piemontese heartland.

Its slightly cantankerous, stubborn nature is reflected in the wines, which are a perplexing array of almost contradictory elements. On one hand, it can be tough and decidedly difficult, on the other aromatic and perfumed. It's pale in colour, which would suggest something light in

structure, yet it is searingly high in tannins and acidity. It has a chunky, solid core of flavours yet also delicately poetic aromas of violets and roses. It is, if you like, a grumpy farm worker with the soul of a poet.

Nebbiolo is a late-ripening red grape, which may give a clue to its name. Nebbia is Italian for fog, and there's a good chance that pickers would be surrounded by autumn mists when bringing in this tardy varietal. The grape's homeland is Piemonte in the far north-west of the country, a region surrounded by the Alps, with a hot, short growing season. Its most famous regions are Barolo and Barbaresco, two areas separated by only a few miles.

In Barolo, the grape is grown mostly on south-facing slopes to coax it to ripeness, the famous tierra bianca (white earth) doing its bit by reflecting up sunlight onto the bunches. In the chalkiest soils in the north, the wines are perfumed and expressive; in the iron and limestone-rich soils of the south it is bigger and more brooding. Combine the mix of different soils with myriad exposures and altitudes on the swirling slopes and you'll see why Barolo is as complicated and controversial as Burgundy.

Barolo's vineyards are higher and cooler than those in Barbaresco, which means that the latter's wines, harvested earlier, tend to be slightly softer and more approachable.