This month we are featuring an interview with Enrico Rivetto, owner of the Italian winery Azienda Agricola Rivetto dal 1902, a Demeter USA Certified Trader for importing wines to the United States. 

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In what year did you first become certified with Demeter Italy?

2009 was the year everything changed around here—especially how we work in the vineyard. It all started with a strong desire to do things with a clear conscience, which has always been a key part of how I work and think. From that moment on, the shift toward becoming a farm, an organism, an ecosystem really picked up speed.



Please describe the area where your vineyard is located. Are there any other Biodynamic vineyards nearby?

My farm is located in the Langhe, between Serralunga d’Alba and Sinio. The hill is called Lirano—it's a ridge between the Alps and the Ligurian Sea, where vineyards blend with woods and vegetable gardens, and donkeys roam freely among the vines.

My property includes 15 hectares of vineyard (including Nebbiolo for Barolo, within the Barolo production area), 2 hectares of mixed crops among the vines, 7 hectares of woodland surrounding the vineyards, and 12 hectares of hazelnut groves.



This is my little corner of conscience—a living agricultural organism and a complex ecosystem where biodynamic farming reflects my shift in mindset, both in how I farm and how I relate to the land.



I'm the fourth generation of winegrowers in my family. Since 2009, we’ve planted over 1,000 tall trees among the vineyards and 200 fruit trees, created five kilometers of biological corridors (including sage, rosemary, mixed hedges, wild roses, etc.), installed six beehives—each housing over 40,000 bees—set up a vegetable garden and a greenhouse, and brought in three donkeys that help manage spontaneous vegetation growth.



We’ve also cleared seven hectares of woodland, turning it into an officially recognized regional truffle ground. We've started growing wheat and corn, set up a composting area essential for maintaining soil fertility, planted a field of aromatic herbs, and launched a small homeschooling project in our facilities, now attended by 26 students.



We also have a phyto-purification system with macrophyte plants and specific bacteria that filter and purify our winery effluent, allowing us to reuse it in the fields and stay independent from the sewage system. We’ve also restored the old wells so we can draw from underground water.



Besides increasing the biodiversity of our farm organism, the trees we’ve planted fight soil erosion and runoff through their roots, and with their foliage they provide wildlife shelter, attracting birds, ladybugs, and parasitic wasps that help control harmful vineyard pests like moths, leafhoppers, and other vine threats.



Over the years, I’ve removed more than 3,000 square meters of vineyard to make room for the biological corridors I’ve created on the farm. I planted over 2,000 meters of hedges—about a meter and a half wide—made up of dozens of different plants. They now act as shelter and home for bees, insects, birds, and small woodland animals, letting them move through the vines and travel freely from one area to another.



Of more than 300 Barolo wine producers there is only one other biodynamic wine producer certified with Demeter in La Morra village.



When did you first become aware of Biodynamics, and what made you decide to use Biodynamic methods in your vineyard?

Since 2009 It has been a constant and continuous process of growth and understanding of the biodynamic method, and to this day, it is the best method to achieve my ultimate goal: soil vitality!



What has been the response of your local community to your choice to become Demeter certified? Were people aware of Biodynamic production?

Local community of wine producers of Barolo in this conservative area trusts in the power of the appellation: a certification is considered an accessory. Monoculture of vine is the main activity that brings money …introducing other cultivations as I did is difficult to understand for them. I believe I am a subject of interest and study among the new generation of producers, the younger ones who are starting out with just a few hectares and don’t own a winery. Their approach is different.



The first community I shared my idea with was my team, the workers in the field and in the cellar. At first they were thinking I was crazy but then they approved with enthusiasm and now they are happy. I mean they are happy to work, to learn from Nature, to cooperate to create balance.



How do you introduce the concept of Biodynamic farming to people who have not heard of it?

I start by telling them that Lirano is a full-on farming organism: beautiful, complex, alive, and in balance. I explain to those who come to visit me and know nothing about it that biodynamics deals with what is visible as well as what is invisible.



And then I show the place and I tell what we do during the year – the kind of biodynamic treatments we use.



Do you feel that there is a strong market advantage in being Demeter certified?

It depends on the market: some markets don't care much, for some others it is very important.



Is there anything else you would like to share about what makes your farm and business unique?

This is what I always say: wine is a means, not an end. Wine embodies the universe of the complex agricultural organism.