Those poetic words were written by a Piemontese friend to explain the Nebbiolo grape to me. Nebbiolo, which grows in a relatively small region in Piemonte, is something you should get to know, if you don’t already, when here in northern Italy, as it is considered by many to be the most noble of all Italian grapes. Nebbia means fog, and each autumn, when the intense fog comes rolling in and hangs over the Langhe region where the Nebbiolo grows, it creates conditions that have been impossible to duplicate anywhere else on Earth, and wines considered among Italy’s best. As my friend describes it,

Truly an elegant description of an elegant wine. As a rule Nebbiolo wines are dark red and have a high level of alcohol. They have a rich aftertaste. They take a long time to mature fully; when they do the wine takes on its characteristic brownish-red color at the rim. These wines go well with strong flavored meats and stews and with strong cheeses that may overpower the taste of other lighter wines. For all the different wines produced from the Nebbiolo it still only amounts to 3% of the wine production in Piemonte. The Barolo and Barbaresco, so called for the towns of the same name, are given the most respect; wines from outside the designated region go by Langhe Nebbiolo and Nebbiolo d’Alba, among others. For all these reasons, a bottle of Nebbiolo wine will tend to cost more than other Piemontese wines such as Barbera or Dolcetto. One pays for rarity. I'll let his words summarize it for us,