Alessandro Rivetto Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba 2016
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Garnet red color and orange tones, ethereal and pleasant scent. Austere yet smooth, strong and balanced. Elegant, with soft and sweet tannins.
Pairs well with red meat courses, game and hard or matured cheeses. Highly recommended with food enriched with truffles.
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Camphor, red-berry, tobacco and pressed rose aromas lead the nose. On the linear, elegantly restrained palate, notes of clove and white pepper accent cranberry and pomegranate before a sage finish. Assertive close-grained tannins leave a firm drying finish.
The passion for wine and the deep experience of the sector, gained in the field over long years of learning and observation, are an integral part of his personal history and are the essential features of the Alessandro Rivetto farm. It was Alessandro’s grandfather Ercole who taught him to know the vineyard and the cellar and, before him, his great-grandfather Giovanni; thus, began his love and life story for wine.
Hercules, starting from a deep bond with his territory of origin, knew how to transform his father's intuitions into a drive to explore new production possibilities. But more than anything else, it gave him the pleasure of smiling while working. From him, Alessandro, also learned this: love what you do and do what you love, bringing a smile to those he meets and those who taste his wine.
That same spirit, stubborn yet light, aware but not serious, is the same that he found in 2012 thanks to his partner Alessandro Bonelli, oenologist, who today takes care of all the technical aspects of corporate production. The same that he rediscovered in Mauro Adriano, who joined bringing his deep knowledge of international markets to the company.
They produce wines capable of exciting, telling their origin of effort and pleasure, of hard work but of propensity to share. For them, that dream is today an exciting exploration of what their vineyards can offer year after year. But it is also the challenge they face towards new interlocutors who appreciate their wines in every corner of the world.
Because, they are sure, in addition to the vines they like to cultivate the wonder, the true and pure smile that the beauty of their work can give.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.