By: Wineaux DLynn P
Last night marked a wonderful event with Giorgio Rivetti from Piedmont Piemonte and his La Spinetta wines. In a little less than a decade, Giorgio, owner and winemaker of La Spinetta in Barbaresco, has become one of the leading forces in Piedmont. La Spinetta received the Gambero Rosso award for Winery of the Year in 2001 and his accolades continue to pour in. His modern style Nebbiolo’s are friendly and approachable and would give many highly rated New World wines a run for their money. Meaning, “Top of the Hill” La Spinetta saw its first vintage of bianco produced in 78 and its first rosso in 85. The 90’s and 2000’s saw the realization or their power house Babaresco’s and Barolo’s, and the family hasn’t stopped yet, producing wines in Toscana. His other project is Indigenous Selections, which imports eclectic wines such as La Spinetta, Ciacci Piccolomini, Cocito, E Pira e Figli, and Bruno Rocca. It was created by Giorgio & Liz O’brien in 2008, and imports the finest, most sought after estates in Italy.
Some of the highlights were the La Spinetta Nebbiolo Langhe from 2007. Being a blend of some of the top crus from Barbaresco, it exhibits dried cherry, dried red roses, and tobacco leaves, with screaming acidity and a finish of cedar. The 2006 Bruno Rocca Coparossa was probably the fan favorite and drank exceptionally well. With a myriad of blue fruit and massive tannin, this Barbaresco drank well above its value and could easily tame down and drink anothe 15 years. At the end of the evening, Giorgio pulled from his bag a 2004 Campe della Spinetta Barolo Vursu. If the Lion on the label is any forsight to what was in the bottle, we were in for a massive treat. Aged in French oak for 24 months, then another 9 months in bottle just to settle, the wine is neither fined nor filtered and is full of black fruit and huge tannin. The acidity is also a classic representation of how nebbiolo can be, without being tampered with. It pulls every ounce of saliva off of the palate and then pulls the enamel off of the teeth. I would suggest this would probably last 40 years. All in all, thank you Giorgio for a great night. A presto.
Ciao for now.