Rizzi 2016 Barbaresco "Nervo" 750ml
The 2016 Barbaresco Nervo is a thickly or loosely textured expression that offers more power and richness than your standard Nebbiolo from this appellation. This wine is robust and nicely concentrated and pushes forward over the palate with great determination. After a few years in the bottle, you might serve this with Piedmont's classic finanziera, a hearty peasant's stew of sweetbreads and other innards.
Score: 92 points -- Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate, 243
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Founded over 40 years ago by Ernesto Dellapiana, the Azienda Vitivinicola Rizzi is located in the small village of Treiso in the heart of the Barbaresco and Langhe area. The original vineyards of this estate were anchored on two sides of the hill of Rizzi with the Cru Rizzi and the Cru Nervo. Between 1984 and 2018 further vineyard acquisitions were made in more Cru’s including the famous Pajorè. Ernesto and his wife Lia now work alongside their daughter, Jole, who handles the sales and marketing for the winery and their son, Enrico, who manages the viticulture and wine production. Even after more than 40 years of activity, the philosophy of the Rizzi winery remains focused on classicism and tradition, with great attention to respect for the environment and the ecosystem, through the use of pellet manure, compost and green manure for fertilizers, and copper and sulfur to combat fungi and pests. Furthermore, only mechanical techniques are used to keep the sub-plates clean. The ultimate goal is always the same, generation after generation: to exalt in wine that the season and the territory have been able to express in the fruit. The Rizzi winery is one of the most solid and reliable production facilities in Barbaresco, the result of various Cru interpreted as a symbol of Piedmontese classical tradition. Rizzi, Nervo, Pajorè, Vigne Boito: vineyards that have a perfect exposure, so as to give life to classic and deep wines.