La Spinetta

The Rivetti family story begins in the 1890s, when Giovanni Rivetti, grandfather of the three Rivetti brothers, Carlo, Bruno and Giorgio, left Piedmont for Argentina. Like many Italians of that time, he dreamed of returning rich and a powerful man, perhaps even one day able to make a great wine in his homeland.

He never did, though his son, Giuseppe (nicknamed Pin) did. Pin married Lidia, bought vineyards and began to make wine. In 1977 the family took up residence at LA SPINETTA (top of the hill) in Castagnole Lanze. It was the heart of the Moscato d’Asti country, home of a rather light and simple dessert wine. But the Rivettis believed that Moscato had the potential for greatness and set out to prove it by making Moscato Bricco Quaglia and Biancospino.

The work at LA SPINETTA is dedicated to the vineyards, which we treat with the utmost care, attention and respect, especially in regards to agronomy and production quantities. By using no or the least possible amount of chemicals and by keeping our production relatively small (only 17-20 hl (1.7 -2 tons) per hectare), we put 90% of our effort into our vineyards. We are aware that the vineyards have long existed before LA SPINETTA has begun to make wine and they will survive us.

Not having inherited our land through generations of winemakers, our vineyards were carefully selected. All of our vineyards have south, south-east or south-west exposure and the vines are mostly of old age (35-65 years). Only vines of substantial age are able to give mineralogy, longevity, complexity and terrain character to the wine. Vines of younger age, we only use to make three wines: Barbera Cà di Pian, Langhe Nebbiolo and Il Nero di Casanova.

In the vineyard:

  • extensive year round care
  • extremely low yields
  • no use of chemical products
  • no fertilizing
  • no pesticides
  • 75% bio-dynamic

However, by using state-of-the-art technology and a majority of new oak, we keep hygiene at 100%, a factor that is very important to us.

  • 80% use of new, medium toast French barrique
  • temperature and humidity controlled facilities
  • modern technologies support an error free process
  • rotofermenters for first fermentation
  • impeccably clean cellar environment
  • no filtration
  • no clarifying by adding substances
  • most modern bottling technology
  • use of natural cork only
  • constant quality control