Rivetti (La Spinetta), Barbaresco, Barbarseco Gallina

Dark red, dropping some sediment but little bricking. Decanted for 2 hrs and wine went great with our thanksgiving dinner. The last of 3 bottles and could easily age a few more years. That said stored at 55F which no doubt helped longevity compared with others experiences. Balanced and enjoyable.

1996 vintage

Opened for 2 hours. A little tight. Gonna splash decant to try and open it up.red cherry, red licorice, a little fennel root. Still young, but drinkable now. Hints of dried violets. Enjoyable wine. Not as elegant as I was expecting, but tasty wine.

2014 vintage

I was very pleasantly surprised by this wine. This was a tasty Barbaresco, ready to go with cherry and roses and earth and tar and tobacco leaf. With secondary traits of forest floor, wet loam, strawberry compote, bricks and crushed bricks etc. it’s a midweight wine drinking perfectly right now.

2000 vintage

Still life in this. Beautiful balance, elegance and a long finish. Stored at 55F for many years so maybe not as advanced as some of the other TN’s.

1996 vintage

Weird licorice notes.

2014 vintage

Pale garnet with some ruby at the core. On the nose, the wine shows cranberries, perfumed red roses, toast, cinnamon, baking spices. It’s developing. On the palate, dry, high acidity, high tannins, high alcohol, medium plus body, medium plus flavour intensity with red fruits, spices and toast lingering. Savoury tannins that lingers with medium plus finish. Very good wine. Opened the night before and bottle decanted for 20 hours before the wine starts to blossom and the oak goes away. …

2014 vintage

Still Young and vivid! Nose: combination of red fruits (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries) and delicate aging tones (acetone, violet, mild leather) Taste: medium bodied, high but good acidity balances the structure. Red fruit and floral tones (meadow flowers) and mild herbs. Love this winery

2014 vintage

Drinking beautifully now. Resolved tannins plush cool dark fruit. Short decant, came alive after 30 min

2014 vintage

Amazingly energised florals, violets, blueberries, plum. Juicy dark delicious.

2014 vintage

Nose: Vanilla, banana, musk Notes: Spinetta has been considered by myself as one of the more elegant and relatively feminine Barbaresco makers, their wines are less full bodied and often highly aromatic. The 1996 Gallina is no exception but I do feel that it's probably over its peak and is currently going downhill. The palate is a little weak and unstable. This will I believe will continue to deteriorate so if you have one its time to drink up. Drink: …

1996 vintage

The wine looks tawny colored. The legs are medium. There is heavy sediment in the bottle. It smells like fig, nutmeg, apricot with notes of apricot, cinnamon, honey, sherry, red currant, apricot and raisin.

1996 vintage

way too early. Wanted to try the wine. Strangely has a Carmenere nose. I'm going to let it sit overnight. Really unpleasant at the moment. I'll wait before opening the rest.

2014 vintage

Fantastic showing. The oak influence is there, but the wine is beautifully balanced. Very long finish. Impressive!

1996 vintage

excellent stuff

2000 vintage

Enjoy now or hold another year, fantastic wine which has aged very well in the cellar, smooth, soft, dark cherry/fragrant, decanted one hour...wait one year for our last bottle...lovely

2000 vintage

TN: Barbaresco, Barolo, Ridge + (Pranzos) : Decanted for about 30 minutes. Ruby in color. The nose is very nice with cherries, dust, roses and some earthy/sweaty notes. Full bodied. The oak on this, so prevalent on release, is very integrated now. It is still young, but starting to show some complex layering. No harm in drinking now and there is a lot of fruit, but no hurry on this. Very satisfying.

2000 vintage

Quite herbal

2000 vintage

Smooth. Well smelling. Taste included hints of pere. White fruits. Balsamico sweets. Chocolate. Tabacco. Very interesting for this wine that is above all a strong and good example of Barbaresco. Better than Barolo this one.

2000 vintage

Loretta loves this wine, need I say more. Blackberry, tar, kirsch, cherry; suave and smooth, with great length. Not a barnburner, but fresh and at peak, great expression of Nebbiolo.

2000 vintage

Outstanding profile, a really great bottle with tons of depth and complexity; shows tar, cherry pie, kirsch, sweet oak, resin and pine flavors. Pop and pour, this was perfect with only a short 30 minute decant.

2000 vintage

This bottle was a little tired. Slight bricking at the edges, more acidity than usual. Still it showed great depth and length, black cherries, cola, kirsch, earth...

2000 vintage

Lunch at Salumi's (Seattle, WA, USA) : Wowza, great showing for this. Explosive, floral nose. Surprisingly silky, feminine and approachable. Really supple. Nothing raw or oaky about this and plenty of structure in reserve. That said, this seems like an especially nice point to enjoy this if you still want some youthful firmness alongside the beginnings of really nice secondary notes. Sad to see this one go, as it is a true beauty.

2000 vintage

Very tasty. Still quite tight upon opening. Decanted 1.5 hours. Hints of tar, soy sauce, very rich, great with beef. Full bodied. Seems much heavier than many other barbarescos and certainly heavier than a lot of barolos.

2000 vintage

Wow. This appears to be a more modern style of Nebbiolo, with concentrated fruit and some apparent oak overtones even at this age, but it couldn't be much more perfectly balanced. Garnet around the rim, intense, classic Nebbiolo aromas, high but well integrated tannins, complex blueberry and floral flavors and aromas. Balanced for the long haul but enjoyable now if you can handle the tannin level. A great bottle of wine.

1996 vintage

Impressive length and mouth coating tannins, intense flavors - prunes, cherries, tar & kirsch, amazingly young still.

2000 vintage

Dinner at Fahrenheit, 96 Cristal, 03 Schoolhouse, 05 Van Duzer, 00 Spinetta; 12/19/2009-12/20/2009 : Ruby/brown in color. The nose is tremendous with cherries, dusty cherries, rose petals and leather. Really complex. On the palate, this is still young. Lots of tight layering of cherries and dried cherries with some floral notes. Worked great with the food. Still, I would wait another year or two on these.

2000 vintage

Color: Garnet in the center, ruby rim. Nose: Rich red raspberry fruit, smoke, some perceptable oakiness. Palate: Cooked confected red fruits, some spice, anise. A modernist Barbaresco, definitely not my favorite. I much prefer traditionalists from the area like the Mascarellos, Dante Rivetti, etc.

1996 vintage

Garnet fading to red/brown to a clear rim. Ripe blackberries, spicy cinnamon, fig, and red/black currant on the nose. Dark chocolate, black cherry, tobacco, and a touch of clove. Dry with bright acidity. This is the kind of power that I love in Barbaresco. It is drinking well, hard to resist, and will get better for a few more years. Chewy with a 45 second finish.

2000 vintage

A 93 with room for improvement over next 5 years. Outstanding after 3 hours of decanting. Tannins give way to beautiful black raspberries, spice (?), tar and other complex background flavors that my palate cannot accurately describe. Yum.

2000 vintage

Intense but pretty nose with heady potpourri, orange zest, and black cherry notes. Some vanilla and spicy oak influence. Really pure and ripe youthful flavors to the palate. Large-scaled but fine-grained tannins. Really appealing , classy, feminine wine, but needs to settle down a bit.

2000 vintage

This was a huge positive surprise. Wonderful aroma. Thick and full bodied, moderate complexity. This is truly a beautiful Barbaresco. My wife loved it, and I haven't served her an Italian wine that she has liked since we were in Italy. Bravo. This is terrific. Definitely a repurchase.

2000 vintage

Dark nice portlike color. Cherries. Purifying and cleansing. Alcoholic and powerful. Tasted blind. Wine Battle at Max's 03/03/2006.

1996 vintage

Seattle Tasting Group does Barolo and Barbaresco (no April Fool's here) (Seattle, WA, USA) : The nose on this was a bit off-putting with some notes of pickle, rhubarb and caramel. The palate was the real deal, loaded with tar with gorgeous focus and structure. Sweet tannins round out the gripping finish. This one needs some time to integrate its wood. DAY 2: Ahh, what a difference a day makes, as now those Gallina raspberries are singing along with faint …

2000 vintage

Nose with tobacco, pepper and hay; difficile but not pronounced; taste very fine and difficile; pleasant and balanced tannins. Very dry on the finish. Overall no good effort for such a renowned winery.

1996 vintage

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Rivetti (La Spinetta), Barbaresco, Barbarseco Gallina

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