nebbiolo

noun

neb·​bi·​o·​lo ˌne-bē-ˈō-lō 

variants sometimes Nebbiolo

plural nebbiolos; sometimes Nebbiolos

: a robust full-bodied red wine that is known for its complexity, tannic structure, and capacity to age, that is produced in Italy as Barolo or Barbaresco, and that is also produced in Oregon and California

also : the grape itself

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Italian, regularized from Upper Italian (Piedmont) nebieul, 14th-century nebiolio, perhaps from neb(b)-, the base of Italian nebbia "mist, fog" (going back to Latin nebula) + -(i)olo, diminutive suffix (here with adjectival function); perhaps so called from a grayish film that forms on the mature grapes — more at nebula

Note: For a detailed discussion of forms and etymology see Thomas Hohnerlein-Buchinger, Per un sublessico vitivinicolo: La storia materiale e linguistica di alcuni nomi di viti e vini italiani (Tübingen, 1996), pp. 102-03. The author rejects the association of the word with ebbio "elderberry (Sambucus ebulus)" on the grounds that the form nebbio with agglutination of the indefinite article is unlikely in Piedmont. The alternative notion that the "mist" connection is with the climate of the growing zone seems much less likely from an onomastic standpoint—the name should reflect some feature of the grape, not an ephemeral feature of the landscape. For adjectival use of the suffix -olo compare giugnolo "pertaining to June."

First Known Use

1788, in the meaning defined above