Guido Rivella

The wines of Guido Rivella can be summed up in one word: perfection. As the winemaker for Angelo Gaja for 47 years, Rivella knows a thing or two about making Barbaresco. Although the azienda was only established in 2010, the Rivella family owned practically the entire Montestefano cru in Barbaresco throughout the nineteenth century. Today, 70% of their grapes come from Montestefano, although they also lease .5 ha on Barbaresco’s Fausoni cru in Neive from Silvia Rivella’s in-laws.

The Rivella’s carry out a green harvest in August, leaving behind 30-33% of bunches to encourage a complete ripening, which isn’t difficult considering most of their vines range from 40-60 years of age. (They know what to do.) The wines then undergo a submerged-cap fermentation, coaxing out Nebbiolo’s noble tannins followed by affinamento in multiple-passage barrique or tonneau, with some even hailing from Gaja’s cellar. One aspect that is unique to the Rivella’s production is the fact that they vinify each of their small parcels separately in 5-10 HL stainless steel vats. This way they can transmit each site and its respective vintage profile as explicitly as possible by not commingling various terroirs and their produce.

Enrico Rivella (paraphrasing his father) joking/not jokingly admits: “Ninety-nine percent of the work is done in the vineyards. Our job in the cellar is not to to f*%k it up.”