2021 Alessandro Rivetto Barbaresco DOCG, Piedmont, Italy 🇮🇹

The Moment

Some Nebbiolos are built around charm.
Others are built around time.

The 2021 Alessandro Rivetto Barbaresco DOCG feels like the second kind — a wine with classical structure, floral lift, and the kind of old-world restraint that makes you want to slow dinner down a little. The estate describes a wine with a deep garnet-red color with orange highlights, aromas of rose petals and licorice surrounded by blackberry and tart notes, and a palate that is dry, full-bodied, and austere, though velvety and balanced.

This is 100% Nebbiolo from Treiso in Piedmont, grown on clay-limestone soils and made from Michet, Lampia, and Rosé clones. The wine spends around 18 months in oak barrels, then rests in bottle for at least 6 months before release. That matters here. This is not a wine pushed out early for easy softness. It is built in a more traditional Barbaresco shape — structured, fragrant, and meant to feel composed at the table.

What It Feels Like

Think roasted meat, low light, a quieter table, and a wine that keeps revealing itself in smaller, more elegant ways.

What makes this bottle compelling is the balance between austerity and velvet. The rose and licorice notes give it classic Nebbiolo perfume, the blackberry and tart edge keep it bright, and the full-bodied structure gives it real seriousness. But the estate’s own description makes an important point: even with that firmness, the wine is still balanced and velvety. That is exactly the tension you want in Barbaresco.

In the Glass

Aromatics
Rose petals, licorice, blackberry, and characteristic tart notes.

Palate
Dry, full-bodied, and structured, with a classical Nebbiolo profile that balances austerity and velvet.

Texture
Firm and serious, but balanced, with a velvety feel under the structure. 

Finish
Long, savory, and poised, with floral lift and structure carrying through the close. 

Why We Love This Bottle

Classic Barbaresco Energy
Rose petals, licorice, tart notes, and a full-bodied but balanced palate is exactly the kind of profile that makes traditional Barbaresco so compelling.

Treiso Nebbiolo With Real Shape
Coming from the best vineyard positions in the Barbaresco zone and grown on clay-limestone soils, this reads like a wine built around structure and place.

A Wine That Was Given Time
Ten days on skins, malolactic in controlled vats, 18 months in oak, and another minimum six months in bottle before release gives this wine a sense of patience that fits the category beautifully.

Pair It With

• Roasted meats
• Game
• Hard cheeses
• Mushroom risotto
• Braised dishes

Technical Notes

Producer: Alessandro Rivetto
Wine: Barbaresco DOCG
Vintage: 2021
Region: Piedmont, Italy
City: Treiso
Grapes: 100% Nebbiolo (Michet, Lampia, Rosé clones)
Soil: Clay-Limestone

Vineyard Notes:
The vines are trained in Guyot, average 30–35 years old, and yield around 70 quintals per hectare.

Winemaking:
The grapes are hand-harvested, collected in small baskets, then destemmed and pressed. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled vats for 10 days on the skins with frequent repassing. After alcoholic fermentation, the wine is held in temperature-controlled vats to support malolactic fermentation. In spring, it is moved to oak barrels for around 18 months, then bottled and stored in temperature-controlled rooms, with a minimum 6 months in bottle before release.

Body: Full
Structure: Firm tannin · balanced acidity · velvety core · long finish

Flavor Profile
Rose Petal · Licorice · Blackberry · Tart Red Fruit · Savory Earth

Serving Temperature
64°F

Drink Window
Now–2034