La Spinetta

Piemonte The Rivetti brothers’ estate, headed by the charming and ultra-talented Giorgio, has certainly become the estate in Barbaresco to watch. Rooted in history of Moscato D’Asti production 20 years ago, the transformation into one of the great red wine producing estates could not be more eloquent, especially when one considers the time in which it has been achieved. In 2000, La Spinetta invested in some new Barolo vineyards and a fantastic winery and barrel cellar in the Barolo DOCG and in 2001 were bestowed the honour of ‘Cantina dell’Anno’. Why the rhinoceros? The animal that decorates the La Spinetta bottles certainly catches people’s attention, yet there is no real connection between this animal and LA SPINETTA. There remains the unspectacular truth of Giorgio Rivetti always having had great admiration of this celebrated drawing and woodcut by the German artist Albrecht Dürer. Although there is no rhino story of LA SPINETTA, there certainly is a great story behind this particular rhino, which perhaps is one of the reasons why Giorgio fell in love with this artwork. The drawing records the arrival of an Indian rhinoceros in Lisbon, Portugal in 1515. It was the first animal of its kind to be seen in Europe. As a gift by the governor of Portuguese India to the king of Portugal, it was arranged that the rhino fought an elephant. The elephant apparently turned and fled. A description of the rhino soon reached Germany, presumably with sketches, from which Dürer prepared this drawing and woodcut without ever having seen the actual animal. So convincing was Dürer’s fanciful creation that for the next 300 years European illustrators borrowed from his work, even after they had seen living rhinos without plates and scales.

	La Spinetta Barbera D'Asti Ca di Pian 2008 - Piedmont, Italy Bin No. LASPINCP08 Price: £22.50 The La Spinetta Barbera d’Asti Ca’ di Pian, made from 100% Barbera, is a very upfront wine which currently shows a very balanced use of barrique. Twelve months barrel ageing and a further two months in bottle prior to release, succeeds in smoothing out any harsh acidity with the vanilla sweetness of new wood, without compromising the rich, red fruit. ..
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	La Spinetta Pin 2005 - Piemonte, Italy Bin No. LASPIN05 Price: £36.00 La Spinetta’s ‘Pin’ show’s a fresh new world approach to Piemonte wine, with a touch of old world structure. The grape mix for the wine is 25% Barbera, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and 50% Nebbiolo. The wine matures in separate barrique up to the June following the harvest. After blending, ageing is completed in new French oak barriques up to 18-20 months. The final stage then is spent in steel tanks before bottling, without being filtered. Rel ..
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