Our land has always been a wine farming land, at least since Etruscan and Roman times. The history of Rivalta and the history of my family have also been intertwined with wine for centuries. Ancient deeds show that in the 14th century the Viscontis, rulers of Milan, demanded our family some “barrels of your good wine” as payment of the feudal tithe. The medieval borough of Rivalta is built around our castle overlooking the Trebbia river, one of Italy’s most charming and uncontaminated watercourses. The Piacenza’s hills that raise right behind the village are cultivated with vines up to approx. 400 m. Further uphill there are chestnut woods, oak groves and pasture land.
The microclimate and the quality of the soil are beneficial to the excellence and character of our grapes.
The vast underground cellars of the castle, with earthen floors, vaulted ceilings and constant temperature are the ideal setting for aging our wines. The wood casks and the hogsheads are housed in the cellars. I’ve chosen the names of some of my ancestors – Giannone, Flerido, Mabilia, Briseide – to mark the most prestigious wines.
This is also a way to keep the spirit that unites my people and our land alive.




The village and the Castle of Rivalta
The peculiarity about Rivalta is that it is an entirely walled borough, not just a castle. Furthermore, the course of its history has allowed to perfectly preserve the elements of its traditional structure. Some documents dating back to the beginning of the 14th century attest that it belonged to Obizzo Landi.
Destroyed by the Viscontis, the castle was rebuilt by the Landis in the second half of the 15th century and transformed into a grand palace for the aristocracy. The castle houses rooms of great historic and architectural beauty, including the 25m long hall of honour, a family history museum, a library with old etchings and the vast kitchen with many original utensils. The current owners, the Counts Zanardi Landi have carried out a methodical work of restoration and development of both the castle and the village, which have preserved their original structure.




The oenological project
The Borgo di Rivalta wines have been presented to the public after a preparation work that went on for a few years.  The key stages of the project have been the choice of the vineyards, the clonal selection, the vine planting techniques, the cultivation oriented to low-yield production and the hand-picking of grape clusters when they reach the perfect balance between the sugar and acid levels.
The vinification process and the new maceration and fermentation techniques have enabled us to produce well-structured and elegant wines. 
Ageing in large wooden casks and hogsheads completes the character of these wines without them loosing the typical characteristics of their grape varieties.




Soil composition
The soil composition of vineyards, mainly with southeast exposure, is predominantly calcareous. It consists of different types of clay that shape into gentle rises at an altitude between 200 and 300 AMSL. The light colour of the calcareous marls is a precious source of luminosity for the vine and produces a microclimate that limits the drop in air temperature during the night, a crucial factor for maintaining the fragrance of the grape juices.
The lower hills, situated further north of the vineyards, stand on pebbly terrace sediments which favour the rise in temperature and the phenolic evolution of the grapes.
On this land, shaped by millenniums of erosion, viticulture has chosen the most favourable positions to confer more body and softness to its wines.