The Rivetti Family, Single-Vineyard Nebbiolo & The Soul of Piemonte | La Spinetta | Wine Dine Combine X Uncorked
As part of our Wine Dine Combine X Uncorked series, we sat down with Luca Cigliuti — born and raised in Piemonte, and the man with the honour of representing La Spinetta, one of Italy’s most respected family-run wineries.
In this conversation, Luca walks us through the story of the Rivetti family — three ambitious siblings who took over the family business in the early 1970s and turned it into a benchmark for artisanal Italian winemaking. From the early acquisition of vineyards in Barbaresco, to the move into Barolo, and finally the bold step into Toscana in 2000 — La Spinetta’s journey is one of vision, patience, and an unwavering belief in terroir.
We explore what makes the estate’s approach so distinct: the commitment to indigenous grapes — Nebbiolo, Barbera, Moscato, Timorasso — the refusal to buy grapes from outside producers, and the obsession with single-vineyard expression. Luca explains how soil composition, altitude, exposure, and microclimate shape four very different single-vineyard Barbarescos and two Barolos, including the high-altitude Valeirano showcased at Uncorked Malta.
He also shares the story behind La Spinetta’s Tuscan chapter in the province of Pisa — an area often referred to as “the Burgundy of Toscana” — where sandy, ocean-sediment soils produce a Sangiovese built on elegance and finesse rather than structure.
Across 200 hectares of fully estate-owned vineyards, all certified organic and farmed with biodynamic principles for soil health, La Spinetta continues to embody what Luca calls the real difference between artisanal and industrial winemaking: a family of vintners, farmers, and winemakers — not just producers.
A conversation about heritage, soil, single-vineyard philosophy, and what it really means to make wine the Piemontese way.
🍷 Recorded live at Uncorked by Farsons Direct, Malta.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 — Welcome to Wine Dine Combine X Uncorked
00:21 — Meet Luca Cigliuti & the Rivetti family
01:32 — Three siblings, one vision: the early 1970s
01:54 — From Barbaresco to Barolo to Toscana
02:30 — “The Burgundy of Toscana”: the Pisa project
03:06 — The great grapes of Piemonte
04:07 — Why single-vineyard matters at La Spinetta
05:10 — The 70s revolution that changed Barolo & Barbaresco
06:36 — Soil, altitude & the Valeirano vineyard
07:30 — Nebbiolo: the chameleonic grape
07:55 — Estate-grown, organic, biodynamic
08:36 — Closing thoughts
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