Nebbiolo is arguably one of Italy’s oldest and most celebrated wine grapes, giving us the famed wines of barolo and barbaresco from Piemonte, a land of mountain vistas and white truffles. Yet despite this acclaim, nebbiolo is a paradox: Unlike other major varieties such as cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, which are grown throughout the winemaking world, nebbiolo has rarely ventured beyond its homeland.Here are five things to know about nebbiolo.

Where is nebbiolo from? Nebbiolo’s home is Piemonte, in northwestern Italy, a steep region nestled by the Alps. Barolo - the “King of Wines and Wine of Kings” - and barbaresco, sometimes called the queen of Italian wines, are grown in vineyards around towns of those names.