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Giorgio Rivetti’s La Spinetta wines are riveting, but don’t call him a winemaker
Giorgio Rivetti just isn’t very comfortable with one of his job titles — winemaker for the La Spinetta winery that he co-owns in Italy — and he’s not a bit shy about telling the world why.
“Don’t call me a winemaker,” Rivetti said during his promotional swing through the Dayton area last week. “I’m very happy if you don’t feel my hand in the wine.”
Well, somebody’s hands are doing something right, either in the vineyards or in the cellar.
Rivetti votes vineyard: “90 percent of a great wine is made in the vineyard.”
Rivetti has turned La Spinetta into a force in Italy. Not only does he make an excellent Moscato d’Asti that has been widely available in southwest Ohio for several years — the Bricco Quaglia is said to be the first single-vineyard Moscato in Italy — his stable of Piedmont reds, including single-vineyard Barbarescos, Barolo, Barberas, Dolcettos and Langhe Nebbiolo, is impressive across the board. And now, Rivetti has purchased 75 acres in Tuscany, where he is producing single-vineyard Sangiovese-based wines.
In total, La Spinetta owns about 165 acres, and purchases no grapes from outside sources.
Here’s a sampling of Rivetti’s strong opinions on everything from irrigation to the planting of Bordeaux varietals to some of Italy’s best vineyards:
— “Our job is to make great wine from Italian grapes … It is important to make a great Brunello and a great Chianti in Tuscany, not a great Cabernet,” Rivetti said. The experimentation that is going on in many Tuscan vineyards with cabernet suvignon, merlot, syrah and other varietals more strongly associated with France would never fly in Piedmont, where dolcetto, barbera and the majestic nebbiolo are grown. “I advised a fellow winemaker not to buy a vineyard in Barolo and plant cabernet in it, because they can kill you.” Yes, he was laughing when he said it, but not too hard.
— “Irrigation brings uniformity,” Rivetti said, noting that irrigating vineyards is prohibited in Piedmont but allowed in Tuscany. “There is no difference in vintages.”
— “I decide when to harvest based on what the grapes taste like,” not based on the sugar readings from measuring devices, Rivetti said.
— Nebbiolo is the world’s most versatile varietal and makes some of the world’s best wines, but Rivetti is wary when he sees inky versions of the wine that is traditionally light in color. “If you have a real dark-colored Barolo, it’s not 100 percent Nebbiolo,” he said.
— Although he uses new oak barrels to age many of his finest wines, Rivetti nevertheless considers himself a traditionalist because of his belief that great wines are made first and foremost in the vineyard, and said, “We don’t make wine for tasting, we make wine for food.”
Look for La Spinetta’s 2008 Moscato d’Asti ($17.99) and serve it as either an aperitif or as a dessert wine. With its slight sweetness, low 5.5 percent alcohol and moderate effervescence, this is a perfect wine to serve to someone who swears he or she doesn’t like wine because it’s “too sour.” For red-wine lovers, look for the 2005 Barbera d’Alba Gallina ($39.99).
Rivetti’s new Tuscan entries, the Sassontino 2004 and Sezzana 2004 (both $39.99), state a strong case for Sangiovese. Among La Spinetta’s flagship nebbiolo-based wines, splurge on the 2004 Barbaresco Vigneto Valierano ($89.99, on sale from $114.99), the 2004 Barbaresco Vigneto Starderi (also on sale for $89.99) and the 2003 Barolo Vigneto Campe ($99.99, originally $129.99).
These are wines that Rivetti might even admit he “made.”
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Comments
By Niki Foor
October 1, 2009 8:23 AM | Link to this
The La Spinetta wine dinner at DLM School of Cooking was wonderful. Giorgio not only doesn’t want to be called a winemaker but is happy to be referred to as a farmer. He’s charming and passionate and the food and wine were both great!