Ezio Rivella, winemaker from Asti, a knight of labor and one of the most prominent figures in Italian winemaking in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, passed away tonight in Rome at the age of 91.
His many public and private appointments include a decade as president of Assoenologi, from 1975 to 1986, ofOIV as the first Italian president, of the National Committee for Wines of Denomination of Origin (1993-1998) and others. But the thing that perhaps gave Ezio Rivella the most fame was the “creation” of Montalcino as we see and understand it today.
On behalf of the New York-based Italian-American Mariani family, Rivella beat Tuscany in the 1970s in search of a territory where he could invest in making a wine with which to invade the United States. The choice fell on Montalcino, where land was cheap and it was possible to start a very large investment. About $200 million, 2,800 hectares including vineyards, orchards, farmland, the Poggio alle Mura castle and farmhouses to be brought back to life. Thus began the Banfi project, which within a decade transformed a territory and an appellation and led them to become what they are today.
He will be remembered as a manager as well as a winemaker, a down-to-earth visionary, a figure who contributed greatly to bringing the Italian wine world into modernity.
The editorial staff of DoctorWine with its editor Daniele Cernilli mourns his passing.
Goodbye Ezio, may the earth be light to you.
The memory of the Italian Wine Union
“Naming is like a bicycle: if there is no good rider on it, it is useless“. This is how Unione italiana vini (Uiv) remembers – in his own words – Cavaliere del Lavoro Ezio Rivella, Uiv president from 2001 to 2004 and former chairman of the Ministry of Agriculture’s National Wine Committee, who passed away tonight at almost 91 years old. “Ezio Rivella, ” said UIV president Lamberto Frescobaldi – has been much more than a winemaker to the wine world. To be remembered is his pioneering contribution to the promotion of Italian wine abroad but also his advocacy for our country’s businesses and appellations. A man who lived for the world of wine coming to be a major player in the growth of made-in-Italy wine in the world“.
Greetings from the Consorzio Brunello di Montalcino
“Ezio Rivella was one of the figures who most contributed to the success of Brunello di Montalcino in Italy and around the world. Founder with the Italian-American Mariani family of Castello Banfi and among the first in the industry to hold the position of oenologist-manager, Rivella has worked with dedication to the qualitative and identity growth of the Brunello brand while also serving as president of the Consorzio from 2010 to 2012. We remember him with affection and gratitude“. This is how the president of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, Fabrizio Bindocci, remembers the loss of Ezio Rivella, who passed away tonight at the age of almost 91. “In Rivella – Bindocci continues – is to be credited with having taken Brunello di Montalcino outside its national borders by opening the door to the U.S. market and making it a globally known and established wine, thus also contributing to its commercial success“.
So Assoenologi
Riccardo Cotarella: “Gone is the president par excellence, an exemplary professional, a friend, a great man.”
Farewell to Ezio Rivella. One of the great pioneers of Italian and international winemaking has passed away at the age of 91. Born in Asti, he had been president of Assoenologi from 1975 to 1986. Rivella’s was a life spent on viticulture, lived through the full spectrum, dealing with both the more technical as well as managerial aspects. Many prestigious positions held by Rivella: among others, he was president for 9 years of the Union International des Oenologues and official Italian delegate to the OIV, where for 6 years he also served as vice-president. By the early 1990s, he had also been appointed chairman of the National Committee for the Designation of Origin of Wines, a coordinating effort, his, that had led to the implementation of Law 164 on DOCs. But Rivella’s professional history was also marked by a great wine, Brunello di Montalcino, which he helped create and spread around the world in the 1970s. A feat that earned him the title of “manager winemaker,” in light also of the creation of the great Banfi winery, right in Montalcino. Returning to association assignments, Rivella had also led the Italian Wine Union in 2001.
“Ezio Rivella was the president par excellence of Assoenologi. He was one of the absolute protagonists of Italian winemaking, particularly in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, when our industry was still searching for an identity and a position. If modern and evolved oenology, the main reason for the renaissance of Italian wines, exists, we owe it in large part to Ezio, a true pioneer of the wine world. Able to interpret the profession with managerial and entrepreneurial skills. Just as if today Assoenologi is the association we all know, we also owe it to his more than decade-long commitment to the leadership of Italian oenologists and winemakers, which took place at the turn of the mid-1970s and 1980s. He leaves us a great professional, a friend and above all a great man.”: This is how Assoenologi president Riccardo Cotarella remembers him.
