2011 Barbera d'Alba Gallina

The dynamic Giorgio Rivetti, who had already harvested his whites grapes before my visit on September 16, has been cutting back steadily in recent years on his use of new oak for his Barolos and Barbarescos. Just a few years ago he used "nearly 100% new barriques," but with the 2011 vintage, that percentage is down to 55%. And he's now working with barrels (mostly Taransaud) dried outdoors for six years, which he told me costs him a premium of 40%. Rivetti, whose first Barbaresco vintage was 1995, explained to me that he did not like the fact that the oak was so present in his wines for the first five to seven years--some consumers also had the same response to the wines, he admitted--but still maintained that with time in bottle the oak element was absorbed by the wine. But he believes that wines made with less new wood will show "more character of the vineyard and the grapes now."Rivetti feels that the 2010 nebbiolo wines "have everything: fruit, elegance, density and power. They were born with balance: they're drinkable now but will keep for a long time, despite the fact that they're not especially high in acidity." The 2011 Barbarescos, he went on, were bottled with about 14.2% alcohol but do not come across as hot. At the end of my tasting, I was able to taste Rivetti's splendid set of riserva bottlings from the 2004 vintage. These wines, made from the higher parts of their respective vineyards and bottled entirely in magnums in 2009, are theoretically offered only in the strongest years. It's a testament to the recent string of favorable vintages that Rivetti has also made them in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, but he told me that he will probably skip 2012.

I have been visting La Spinetta for longer than I remember, but this was one of the most memorable tastings I have had here. In addition to the new and upcoming releases, proprietor Giorgio Rivetti opened a number of older Barberas, all of which showed beautifully.