Italy · Langhe

Massimo Rivetti Family Farm

Family estate in Neive, Piedmont, farming three named sites across the Langhe. Nebbiolo runs the range from Langhe through Barbaresco and Barolo, with old vines between 35 and 75 years old, native-yeast fermentation, and red wines bottled without filtration.

The producer

Massimo Rivetti and his three sons farm three named sites in the Langhe hills of Piedmont, the fourth and fifth generations of a family whose presence in this part of northwest Italy predates the winery's formal registration in 2000 by decades. The central site, Froi, twelve hectares of old-vine Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Moscato in the hills above Neive, has been in Rivetti hands since 1947. Two further sites extend the estate's reach: Garassino, four hectares in the municipality of Mango, and Palazzina, four hectares in Alba, which supplies the Nebbiolo that goes into the Barolo.

The cellar philosophy runs consistently from vine to bottle. Herbicides are replaced by hand-mown cover crops and more than twenty varieties of sown herbs; insect management uses pheromone traps rather than chemical sprays; fermentation starts with native yeasts from the grape skins; sulphite additions are kept low; and red wines are bottled without filtration. The Barolo, 100 percent Nebbiolo aged 24 months in large Slavonian oak barrels, is the clearest expression of that approach: dried roses, sour cherry, firm tannin, and a bright acid line that keeps the finish long and clean.

Known for

Barolo and Barbaresco from Nebbiolo grown across the Langhe, supported by Barbera, Moscato d'Asti, Dolcetto d'Alba, and Langhe Arneis from three named estate sites.

Notable facts

The story

The Name On The Label

When the Rivetti family formally registered their winery in Neive in 2000, they already held something most producers beginning that year did not: a named parcel with a documented family history going back more than half a century. The Froi site, twelve hectares of old vines in the hills above Neive, had been in Rivetti hands since 1947, farmed by the ancestor Pierin Valetta long before any formal commercial label existed. When Massimo Rivetti and his sons began building the estate's bottle range, they put Valetta's name on a label. The PierinValetta label now appears on wines grown from vines that, in some cases, Valetta himself may have planted and tended in the years after the war. A name from 1947 sits on a bottle you can open today.

From the atlas

Massimo Rivetti Family Farm

At A Glance

The Producer

The Rivetti family farms three named sites in the Langhe hills of Piedmont, growing Nebbiolo from vines that in some cases reach 75 years of age. Massimo Rivetti and his three sons run the estate today, the fourth and fifth generations of a family whose roots in this part of northwest Italy stretch back well before the winery's formal registration in 2000. The central site, Froi, has been in Rivetti ownership since 1947, and it is here that the cellar sits, surrounded by twelve hectares of old-vine Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Moscato.

The estate produces across the main Piedmontese appellations: Barolo and Barbaresco at the top of the range, Langhe Nebbiolo and Barbera d'Asti in the middle tier, and Moscato d'Asti, Dolcetto d'Alba, and Langhe Arneis completing the lineup. The ancestor Pierin Valetta, who farmed the Froi parcel before the formal winery was established, is remembered on a label the family still uses today.

Place

Neive is a hilltop commune in the Langhe, the network of ridges and valleys that runs through the provinces of Cuneo and Asti in southern Piedmont. The village sits within the Barbaresco production zone, which means Nebbiolo grown on the Froi site can be declassified down to Langhe Nebbiolo or elevated to Barbaresco DOCG depending on yield, ageing, and the specific parcel. Barolo, the longer-aged Nebbiolo appellation centred on the village of La Morra and the Alba basin to the southwest, draws on fruit from the Palazzina site in the municipality of Alba.

Neive Nebbiolo tends toward red fruit and floral perfume rather than the deeper, more tannic character of some other Barolo communes. The altitude of the Langhe ridges gives cool nights during ripening, which preserves acidity and extends the growing season. That combination of ripe fruit and firm acid line is what allows Nebbiolo from this zone to age for a decade or more without losing freshness.

Soil And Site

Froi, the twelve-hectare home site in Neive, carries the estate's oldest Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Moscato vines. Garassino, four hectares in the municipality of Mango, is planted with Arneis, Nebbiolo, Merlot, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay, a broader mix that reflects the more varied commercial range the estate produces. Palazzina, also four hectares, sits in the municipality of Alba and carries old-vine Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Dolcetto. Vines across all three sites range from 35 to 75 years old and are farmed for limited yields, which concentrates fruit and amplifies the character of each parcel in the finished wine.

Story

The Rivetti family's formal winery dates to 2000, but the land came first. Froi passed into family hands in 1947, and the ancestor Pierin Valetta worked the site before Massimo Rivetti and his sons began building the commercial estate. When the formal registration happened, the family did not begin from scratch: they had old vines, a named parcel, and a cellar that a merchant source describes as one of the oldest buildings in the Neive area.

The decision to farm without herbicides and to use pheromone traps instead of chemical pesticides was not a marketing choice made after the estate was established. It is embedded in the official estate philosophy alongside a commitment to hand mowing, cover crops from more than twenty herb varieties, native-yeast fermentation, and bottling red wines without filtration. Each of those choices points in the same direction: as little intervention as possible between the vine and the bottle. The family chose a particular kind of continuity, keeping old vines in the ground, farming them without shortcuts, and letting fermentation begin from the yeasts already present on the grape skins.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vineyard floor between the rows is mowed by hand rather than treated with herbicides. More than twenty varieties of herbs are sown as cover crops, serving two purposes: they reduce stress on the vines by competing for excess water and nutrients, and they break down to provide organic matter in the soil. For insect management the estate uses sexual confusion, a method in which pheromone dispensers are hung in the vineyard to disrupt the reproductive behaviour of harmful insects. No chemical insecticides are applied.

Harvest is done by hand, with selection in the vineyard. Fermentation is started with a natural starter culture built from the yeasts present on the grape skins, rather than commercial inoculated strains. In the cellar, sulphite additions are kept to a minimum, and clarification is used only when the winemaking team judges it necessary. Red wines are bottled without filtration, on the grounds that filtration removes aromatic and textural material the grape provided. Oak barrels are selected specifically for each wine and each vineyard, rather than applied uniformly across the range. The Barolo is aged for 24 months in large Slavonian oak barrels, a traditional format that allows the wine to evolve without imparting heavy oak flavour.

Wines

The range is organised by appellation and grape, with Nebbiolo running from Langhe at the entry tier through Barbaresco and up to Barolo. Barbaresco is produced from Nebbiolo grown in and around Neive, where the Froi site sits; the appellation requires a minimum of two years ageing, at least nine months of which must be in oak. Barolo, made from 100 percent Nebbiolo, draws on fruit from the Palazzina site in Alba and carries the longer ageing requirement: a minimum of 38 months for standard releases, of which 18 must be in oak. Both appellations produce wines built on firm tannin and bright acidity, but the Barbaresco from Neive tends to be more approachable in its first decade, while the Barolo carries deeper concentration and a longer ageing arc.

Below the two DOCG reds, the estate produces Langhe Nebbiolo as a lighter, earlier-drinking expression of the same grape, and Barbera d'Asti, a red from Barbera vines at Froi and Palazzina. The white range includes Langhe Arneis from the Garassino site in Mango and Moscato d'Asti from Froi. Moscato d'Asti is a lightly sparkling, low-alcohol sweet wine from Moscato Bianco harvested early to preserve freshness and floral perfume. Dolcetto d'Alba from the Palazzina site completes the lineup: a soft, low-acid red with dark fruit and gentle bitterness on the finish.

In The Glass

The Barolo 2020 opens with dried roses, violets, and cherry on the nose, the floral lift that Nebbiolo from the Langhe delivers when the fruit is ripe and the alcohol is managed well. On the palate the wine moves through sour cherry and dried plum before settling into darker berry fruit at the mid-palate. The tannins are firm and present without being harsh; after 24 months in large Slavonian oak they have softened enough to allow the fruit to come through without being obscured. The acidity is bright, cutting through the mid-palate concentration and drawing the finish long. The wine does not show obvious oak flavour: the barrel's job here was ageing and oxygen exposure, not flavour addition. A long finish and the combination of firm tannin with high acidity give the wine the framework to develop further in bottle over the next ten or more years.

The Barbaresco from Neive shows a similar floral and red-fruit character but with a lighter tannic weight and a slightly softer line, reflecting both the shorter minimum ageing period and the character of the Froi site at its Neive expression. The Barbera d'Asti has the plush, lower-tannin profile typical of the variety, with more immediate dark fruit and a rounder texture.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Barolo. It is 100 percent Nebbiolo from the Palazzina site in Alba, aged 24 months in large Slavonian oak, and it is where the estate's cellar philosophy is most legible: native yeasts, no filtration, oak used for ageing rather than flavouring. In the glass it gives dried roses and sour cherry, firm tannin, and a bright acid line that keeps the finish clean and long. It is not a simple wine, but it is not a puzzle either. The fruit is clear, the tannin is present without being aggressive, and the wine is honest about what Nebbiolo from this part of Piedmont can do. Buy it young and open it over the next decade, or put it aside for five years and find it has opened further.

Anecdote

When the Rivetti family formally registered the winery in Neive in 2000, they already held something most producers beginning that year did not: a named parcel with a documented family history going back more than half a century. The Froi site had been in Rivetti hands since 1947, farmed by the ancestor Pierin Valetta long before any formal commercial label existed. When Massimo Rivetti and his sons began building the estate's bottle range, they chose to put Pierin Valetta's name on a label. The PierinValetta label now appears on wines grown from vines that, in some cases, Valetta himself may have planted and tended in the years after the war. A name from 1947 sits on a bottle you can open today.

Final Word

Massimo Rivetti Family Farm is a Piedmontese estate where the continuity between the land and the bottle is concrete rather than rhetorical. Old vines at Froi, a cellar without filtration, native yeasts, and Nebbiolo aged in large Slavonian oak produce wines that reflect a particular commitment to letting the grape and the site do the work. The Barolo is the clearest expression of that commitment.

Sources

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