Rizieri Società Agricola Semplice

The story

The Outsider Who Stayed

In 2009, Arturo Verrotti di Pianella bought a nineteenth-century farmhouse at Sorì del Ricchino in Diano d'Alba and converted the barn into a winery. He had no family cellar behind him and no inherited vineyards. Wine had been a private interest for years, and the farmhouse purchase was the moment he made it his livelihood. He planted and acquired the surrounding vineyards, set up four guest rooms in the converted building, and built the range that the estate now produces. The La Morra parcel came separately: a single hectare of Nebbiolo in the Silio cru, vinified with approximately 20 days of skin maceration, malolactic fermentation in wood, and no filtration, becoming the most considered wine on the list. In July 2023, F.I.V.I., the Italian federation of independent winegrowers, admitted Rizieri to its membership. The admission requires a producer to grow their own grapes, make their own wine, and bottle under their own name. Verrotti di Pianella had, in fourteen years, built a qualifying estate from a farmhouse and a passion.

From the atlas

Rizieri Società Agricola Semplice

At A Glance

The Producer

Arturo Verrotti di Pianella came to wine without a family cellar behind him. He grew his interest over years and, in 2009, made it his livelihood, buying a nineteenth-century farmhouse at Sorì del Ricchino in Diano d'Alba and converting its barn into a working winery. Four guest rooms went in alongside the tanks. The vineyards followed: six to six-and-a-half hectares around the home property, and a separate holding of approximately one hectare of Nebbiolo in the Silio cru in La Morra, the municipality directly north.

Diano d'Alba is one of the eleven villages entitled to Barolo production, placing Rizieri inside the denomination from the start. Verrotti di Pianella has stayed owner-operated throughout, farming only estate vineyards and building a range that moves logically from a stainless-steel white through everyday Langhe reds to two Barolos of different weight.

Place

The Langhe is the hill country south of Alba in southern Piemonte, where the landscape folds into a series of steep ridges and the two great Nebbiolo appellations, Barolo and Barbaresco, define its southern and eastern flanks respectively. Diano d'Alba sits within the Barolo zone but on its eastern edge, separated from the Barolo communes of Castiglione Falletto and La Morra by a cluster of hills. Village-level Barolo from Diano d'Alba tends toward fruit-forward Nebbiolo, with enough tannin and acid to age but less of the iron severity that marks some Serralunga bottlings.

Rizieri's home vineyards sit at approximately 350 metres above sea level. The elevation and the surrounding woodland together moderate summer temperatures, slowing ripening through the warmest months. The separate La Morra parcel, where the Silio Barolo comes from, sits in a cooler, more westerly municipality known for Barolo with rounder tannin and floral lift from its generally more calcareous soils.

Soil And Site

The home vineyards at Sorì del Ricchino sit on calcareous-clayey soils: the same limestone-and-clay base that runs through much of the Langhe and gives Nebbiolo its characteristic acid backbone and mid-palate density. Woodland borders the site and acts as a buffer against peak summer heat, an asset in vintages when the Langhe runs warm. The La Morra soils in the Silio cru are similarly calcareous.

Story

Vetrotti di Pianella planted his flag in 2009 as an outsider to the Langhe winemaking world. There was no inherited domaine, no grandfather's method to recover or improve upon. He bought the Diano d'Alba farmhouse, converted the barn, and began farming the surrounding vineyards. The range started with the grapes already on the estate: Arneis for a white, Dolcetto and Barbera for everyday reds, Merlot as a Langhe DOC bottling, and Nebbiolo for both an accessible Nebbiolo d'Alba and, once the La Morra parcel was in hand, a village Barolo.

The Silio cru in La Morra came later and changed the ambition of the estate. A single hectare of Nebbiolo, vinified separately with a long maceration and wood-aged malolactic, became the cellar's most deliberate project. In July 2023, F.I.V.I., the Italian federation of independent winegrowers, admitted Rizieri to membership. The federation requires members to grow their own grapes, make their own wine, and bottle under their own name. Fourteen years after the first vintage, the estate met all three criteria.

Vineyards And Cellar

All harvesting is done by hand, with grapes collected in small crates to keep bunches intact from vine to tank. Rizieri has eliminated herbicides from the vineyards and sows barley and legumes as cover crops between rows, feeding the soil through decomposition rather than chemical inputs. SQNPI certification formalises the sustainable-farming commitment. A photovoltaic installation on the cellar roof covers much of the estate's electricity use.

Fermentations across the range take place in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. Rizieri avoids barriques throughout; the red wines that receive wood ageing go into lightly toasted large-format barrels rather than small new-oak casks. All red wines are bottled without filtration.

The Silio follows its own track. Skin maceration runs to approximately 20 days, extracting the colour, tannin, and aromatic depth that the La Morra Nebbiolo can give when handled slowly. Malolactic fermentation happens in wood. The wine then rests before bottling, unfiltered.

Wines

The range spans five colours and styles from a single estate address.

Arvià is the Langhe Arneis, made from Arneis grown at the home estate in Diano d'Alba. Arneis is a white grape native to the Roero, across the Tanaro river from the Langhe, that delivers stone fruit, white flower, and almond notes in a light, dry style. Arvià is fermented in stainless steel and bottled young to preserve those aromatics. It carries no oak and no residual weight.

Barbera d'Alba Superiore comes from estate Barbera and carries the Superiore designation, which requires higher minimum alcohol and a minimum ageing period before release. Barbera's naturally elevated acidity gives the wine brightness and cut. The red fruit is direct, the body medium, and the tannin low relative to Nebbiolo.

Langhe Merlot is produced from Merlot planted at Diano d'Alba and released under the catch-all Langhe DOC. Merlot grown on calcareous Langhe soils tends toward firm, dry red fruit with moderate tannin.

Nebbiolo d'Alba comes from Nebbiolo grown at the home estate rather than the La Morra parcel. Released under the Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC, this wine gives access to the grape's perfume at a lighter weight than Barolo: tart red cherry, dried rose petal, firm tannin, and a persistent acid line without the extended ageing requirement.

Barolo La Morra is the village-level Barolo, made from the La Morra Nebbiolo holding and aged in lightly toasted large-format wood rather than barriques. It delivers the floral and red-fruit character associated with La Morra at a weight accessible in its younger years.

Barolo Silio is the single-vineyard wine, built on approximately 20 days of skin maceration and wood-aged malolactic. Darker fruit, deeper tannin, and a longer finish separate it from the village Barolo.

In The Glass

The white, Arvià, opens with citrus blossom, peach, and almond lifted on a fresh acid line. It finishes clean and dry, without the weight of oak or extended lees contact.

The Nebbiolo d'Alba delivers the grape's calling card early: dried rose, tart cherry, and a grip of firm tannin that softens over a few years in bottle. The acid is pronounced and keeps the finish long and food-friendly.

The Barbera d'Alba Superiore is juicier: dark plum, blackcurrant, and the grape's characteristic brightness, with lower tannin and a more immediate mid-palate than Nebbiolo.

The two Barolos sit at different registers. The La Morra village wine is rounder and more accessible in its early years, with red fruit, floral lift, and tannin that integrates sooner. The Silio moves to a different tempo: the extended maceration pushes the colour deeper, the tannin more extractive and layered, and the fruit toward dried cherry and dark spice. What rises from the glass is rose petal and earth; what builds in the mouth is grip and length; what remains on the finish is a dry mineral pull that is characteristic of the La Morra cru at this level of extraction.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Barolo Silio 2018. It is a single hectare of Nebbiolo from the Silio cru in La Morra, macerated on the skins for approximately 20 days, through malolactic fermentation in wood, and bottled without filtration. The wine has dark cherry and dried rose on the nose, firm and layered tannin in the mouth, and a long mineral finish. Wine Enthusiast assessed the 2018 vintage and found tobacco, iron, and dried herbs alongside the fruit. The wine is approachable now but carries the depth to develop over a further decade. No barriques, no filtering: what you taste is the La Morra site and the Nebbiolo grape, handled with deliberate care by a producer who chose this work rather than inherited it.

Anecdote

In 2009, Arturo Verrotti di Pianella bought a nineteenth-century farmhouse at Sorì del Ricchino in Diano d'Alba and converted the barn into a winery. He had no family cellar behind him and no inherited vineyards. Wine had been a private interest for years, and the farmhouse purchase was the moment he turned that interest into a full-time occupation. He planted or acquired the surrounding vineyards, set up four guest rooms in the converted barn, and gradually built the range that the estate now produces. The La Morra parcel in the Silio cru came separately, a single hectare of Nebbiolo that became the most considered wine on the list. In July 2023, F.I.V.I., the Italian federation of independent winegrowers, admitted Rizieri to its membership. The admission requires a producer to grow their own grapes, make their own wine, and bottle under their own name. Verrotti di Pianella had, in fourteen years, built a qualifying estate from a farmhouse and a passion.

Final Word

Rizieri is an owner-built estate in the proper sense: Verrotti di Pianella chose this work rather than stepped into it. The range is coherent and honestly priced, running from a fragrant Arneis through the accessible Barbera and Nebbiolo d'Alba to two Barolos that differ in weight and intent. The Silio is the bottle that rewards patience; the Arvià and Nebbiolo d'Alba are ready from release. Guests staying in the four rooms above the old barn get to taste the estate from the inside, which is a reasonable way to understand a producer who began with exactly that kind of direct personal commitment.

Sources

• https://rizieri.com/en/
• https://www.ice.it/en/my-home/find-your-italian-partner/company-details/559986/RIZIERI-Societ%C3%A0-Agricola-Semplice
• https://www.stradadelbarolo.it/en/members/rizieri/
• https://rizieri.com/en/langhe-arneis/
• https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/rizieri-blandlada-7691209/
• https://rizieri.com/en/barolo-silio/
• https://rizieri.com/en/barolo/
• https://www.wineenthusiast.com/buying-guide/rizieri-2018-silio-riserva-nebbiolo-barolo/