Azienda Agricola Spinetta
La Spinetta's single-vineyard Barbaresco from the Gallina cru at Neive: 100% Nebbiolo, organically farmed, around 22 months in French oak. Velvety tannins, wild-berry and rose-petal aromas, a long savoury finish. Suckling scored the 2021 96 points.
Vivino drinkers rate the Gallina around 4.3, flagging earthy leather, sweet oak and red cherry, and James Suckling gave the 2021 96 points. Expect Nebbiolo's tar-and-rose signature wrapped in 22 months of French-oak ageing.
Classic Nebbiolo perfume of wild berry, dried rose petal and violet, with the tar and leather edge Gallina fruit takes on with age. Twenty-two months in French oak add cedar, sweet tobacco and a wisp of woodsmoke. Vivino drinkers most often log earthy leather and sweet-oak notes.
Rose petal
Violet
Cherry
Plum
Raspberry
Tobacco
Tar
Leather
LiquoriceMedium-bodied and polished, with bright red cherry and plum lifted by the racy acidity James Suckling singled out in the 2021. Tannins are firm but fine-grained, the velvety texture La Spinetta aims for from this south-facing, marly-calcareous cru. Skin maceration runs only 7 to 8 days, so the fruit stays fresh rather than heavy.
Long and savoury, closing on liquorice, balsamic spice and a floral echo. Bottled without fining or filtration, it keeps a fine-grained grip.
A small-production single-vineyard Barbaresco, around 6,500 bottles a year, near the top of La Spinetta's Neive range. Vivino's crowd rates the 2021 about 4.3; it drinks well now but has the structure for a decade or more.
La Spinetta makes only about 6,500 bottles of Gallina a vintage, so this is a small-production Barbaresco. The 2021 currently lists between roughly £101 and £145 across three UK merchants.
A structured DOCG Barbaresco at £100-plus is strong at the table and in the cellar, less an everyday pour. The scores below weigh food, value, cellar potential and occasion.
Bright Nebbiolo acidity and firm, fine-grained tannins make it a natural with red meat, game and aged cheese.
A single-vineyard DOCG Barbaresco from a benchmark Neive producer: a genuine occasion wine.
Barbaresco DOCG ageing, 22 months in French oak and Nebbiolo's structure give a decade-plus cellar life.
A classic indigenous Nebbiolo, but firm tannins, a savoury profile and a £100-plus price make it a step beyond beginner reds.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our editorial methodology.
A compact view of what the Barbaresco denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
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2021 was a cool, classic Piedmont vintage that gave Barbaresco firm structure and freshness. James Suckling rated La Spinetta's 2021 Gallina 96 points for its bright stem, plum and raspberry fruit and racy tannins.
2021 was a cool, classic Piedmont vintage that gave Barbaresco firm structure and freshness. La Spinetta's Gallina shows bright plum and raspberry over racy, fine-grained tannins; James Suckling rated it 96 points.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Giorgio Rivetti's La Spinetta farms 5.5 hectares of south-facing, marly-calcareous Gallina at Neive, with vines averaging 55 years. The estate has bottled this single vineyard, under its Dürer rhinoceros label, since 1995.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Barbaresco is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Barbaresco falls within Piedmont , covering Piedmont. The denomination is further divided into 4 sub-zones.
La Spinetta declares roughly 6,500 bottles each vintage from 5.5 hectares at Neive, so scarcity rather than volume sets the £100-plus UK price.
Vines averaging 55 years on south-facing, marly-calcareous soil give low yields of concentrated fruit, and organic farming adds vineyard labour.
La Spinetta ages the Gallina around 22 months in French oak barriques, a fifth new each year, adding barrel and cellar cost beyond the disciplinare's nine-month minimum.
James Suckling's 96 points for the 2021 and the collectable rhinoceros label support a premium over generic Barbaresco.
UK still-wine duty is about £2.67 a bottle at 2026 rates, and 20% VAT on a £100.76 listing is roughly £16.80, so tax alone is near £19.50 before retailer margin.
The standard Gallina reaches market after about 22 months, not the ten-plus years of La Spinetta's Riserva magnums, which limits its cellar-holding cost.
Dishes that complement this wine
Nebbiolo's firm tannins and bright acidity call for fat and umami. La Spinetta points to mushroom risotto and white meat, while Vivino drinkers reach for beef, lamb and game.
Nebbiolo's firm tannin binds to the fat and gelatin in slow-braised beef, softening its grip, while bright acidity cuts the richness of a brasato or ossobuco.
Try with: Brasato al Barolo · Ossobuco alla Milanese · Venison Stew · More pairings →
High acidity and fine tannin scrub fat from roast beef and grilled lamb, and the wine's medium body matches their weight without overwhelming the meat.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Sunday Roast Beef · Rack of lamb
Gallina's earthy leather and dried-rose aromatics bridge to mushroom and truffle, echoing Nebbiolo's forest-floor character, while acidity keeps a creamy risotto fresh.
Try with: Porcini mushroom risotto · Truffle risotto · Tagliatelle al tartufo di Acqualagna · More pairings →
The wine's body and structure stand up to aged Piedmontese cheeses, while its acidity refreshes the palate against their salt and fat.
Try with: Castelmagno · Parmigiano Reggiano · mature pecorino
Acidity lifts a rich ragu and fine tannin handles the meat's fat, so a lasagne or agnolotti del plin stays balanced rather than heavy.
Try with: Lasagna · Agnolotti del Plin · Agnello Ragu Lucano · More pairings →
Firm tannin and oak overwhelm delicate white fish and raw shellfish, leaving a metallic, drying clash; this wine wants fat and protein, not briny sweetness.
Skip with: Nigiri Sushi · Oysters · Squid ink risotto · Pairing guide →
With 22 months in French barrique and Nebbiolo's structure, the Gallina rewards patience; merchants suggest a decade or more. La Spinetta also holds back a tiny run of Riserva magnums for at least ten years.
Peak around 2033. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Barbaresco DOCG ageing, 22 months in French oak and Nebbiolo's structure give a decade-plus cellar life.
£100.76 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 7 Jun 2026, 15:43 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumLa Spinetta, the Rivetti family estate based at Castagnole delle Lanze, makes Barbaresco Gallina from a 5.5-hectare single vineyard in the Gallina cru at Neive. It is 100% Nebbiolo and carries the estate's Albrecht Dürer rhinoceros label.
It is a soft, perfumed Barbaresco with velvety tannins, aromas of wild berry, dried rose and violet, and a savoury edge of tar, leather and sweet oak. The finish is long and floral, and Vivino drinkers rate it around 4.3.
Serve it with braised and roast red meat, game, mushroom and truffle dishes, rich meat-sauce pasta and aged Piedmontese cheeses. Its firm tannins and bright acidity cut through fat and stand up to umami.
The 2021 drinks well now but has the structure to cellar for a decade or more. La Spinetta ages it around 22 months in French oak, and a strong vintage like 2021 rewards patience to roughly 2041.
Yes. La Spinetta farms the Gallina vineyard organically, and the wine is bottled without fining or filtration.
The 2021 currently lists between about £101 and £145 across three UK retailers. That is well above the typical Barbaresco price because of single-vineyard scarcity, with only about 6,500 bottles made each year.
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