Winemaker Notes
The 2020 Arnaldo Rivera Barolo Rocche di Castiglione is a vibrant, terroir-driven wine from a highly approachable vintage. It delivers an elegant bouquet of red berries, redcurrants, and wild raspberry, nuanced by delicate licorice, mint, and dark leather. On the palate, it is juicy and full with polished, velvety tannins and a long, pure red-fruit finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An overt Barolo with bright cinnamon spices, rhubarb, raspberries and strawberries. Medium- to full-bodied with velvety tannins and super-tense acidity that make the wine chewy and dynamic. Drinkable now, mostly with food, but better in two to three years and best from 10 years.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The dark red 2020 Barolo Rocche Di Castiglione takes on a more present oak spice profile, with notes of toasted cedar, cola, sassafras, preserved cherries, and baking spices. Medium to full-bodied, it offers a savory side on the palate, with supple, ripe tannins, a rounded mid-palate, and savory notes of cherry pit and tea leaf, with a darker mineral profile. It’s going to benefit from another year in bottle and is a more contemplative wine in the range. Drink 2025-2037.
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Wine Spectator
This is elegant and well-defined, offering cherry, blood orange, menthol and mineral flavors. A structured version, this remains lively and lingers on the finish, with elements of sweet spices. Fresh and balanced. Best from 2028 through 2045.
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Wine Enthusiast
A seductive Barolo that captures its terroir's essence. The lush nose offers candied raspberry, cherry, sweet cinnamon, and thyme. The palate showcases intriguing medicinal herbs, eucalyptus, and mint, harmonizing with ripe, candied strawberry and redcurrant flavors. Taut, well-structured tannins provide a solid backbone to this alluring wine. Drink Now-2040.
Arnaldo Rivera wines are the result of a partnership between Terre del Barolo winery and a number of its growers with the aim of producing the region’s best grapes and wines. The vineyards of origin are among the most prestigious on the Langhe hills. They are ultimate expression of expertise and craftsmanship, where the purity of the single varietal is at the absolute pinnacle, testifying to the unmistakable identity of Piedmont’s wines. This label is a unique, new journey through the eleven villages and native varietals in the Barolo winegrowing area, from the vineyard management, to the vinification techniques and woods used; it is truly the wines and the land they come from that speak for themselves.
Arnaldo Rivera was born on December 13th, 1919 in Castiglione Falletto, a small village at the heart of the historic Barolo winegrowing area. He was a local primary school teacher, mayor of his village for 36 years, and founder in 1958 of the Terre del Barolo winery. He lived through the hard times of the war in the front line, as well as the days of the liberation. He and his wife Ester Rinaldi were not blessed with children. Arnaldo Rivera passed away on January 10th, 1987. This project was created by the growers and the winery in honor of this great man.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
