The magic’s in the vineyard, Giorgio Rivetti insists

Staff photo by Mark Fisher/Staff photo by Mark Fisher Giorgio Rivetti, co-owner and winemaker of the Italian winery La Spinetta.

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By Mark Fisher, Staff Writer 4:11 PM Thursday, October 1, 2009

Giorgio Rivetti isn’t very comfortable with one of his job titles — winemaker for the La Spinetta winery that he co-owns in Italy.

“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. 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.

Here’s a sampling of Rivetti’s strong opinions on everything from irrigation to the planting of Bordeaux varietals in 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” in regions where irrigation is allowed, he said.

• “I decide when to harvest based on what the grapes taste like,” not based on the sugar readings, Rivetti said.

And 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) or the 2003 Barolo Vigneto Campe ($99.99, originally $129.99).

These are wines that even Rivetti might admit he “made.”

Taste of Wine

Mark Fisher

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