Rivano, Angelo
- Sardinia, Italy
My story begins at the age of 12, when my father, Antonio—known as Nino—brings me along to help him take our cows to pasture. My enthusiasm was born shortly thereafter, when he has me climb up on the tractor and take the wheel. So, since I was young I had a passion for the countryside, which went from being something generic to a true love. As I grew, I make the secrets of being a good farmer my own, I see how my father works the land, how he prunes trees, how he works the vineyard. It is the cultivation of the vineyard about which I am most passionate. From the age of 14 I'm able to do all vineyard jobs, from pruning to harvest. Together with my father and brother, we decide to make wine for the family's needs. Thanks to this experience I realize that if the wine comes from good grapes, worked well, we can obtain a high-quality wine. Year after year I improve my vinification techniques and, today, from that vineyard ad alberello (planted in bush vines) that I took care of with my father since I was little, our Intrigu Carignano del Sulcis DOC is born."
—Angelo Rivano
Rivano is located in the village of Calasetta, on the island of Sant' Antioco, just off the coast of the extreme southwest corner of Sardegna. Angelo's family has been making wine for three generations for personal consumption and for barter and sale in their town. The first bottling of Intrigu produced for export beyond their immediate area was the 2015 vintage.
The 1-hectare vineyard of Carignano was planted in 1982, and has a southeast exposure with a high content of sand. Since phylloxera is unable to take root here, the bush vines are planted piede franco (ungrafted) at 6000 plants per hectare. Bush training helps protect the vines from the intense winds in the area. No herbicides are used, only manual weeding. Copper and sulfur are used for disease control; one light seasonal application of a pesticide may be used against the European grapevine moth. Only manure produced on the farm is used for fertilization.