Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
As its name suggests, the Arnaldo Rivera 2019 Barolo Undicicomuni is a blend of Nebbiolo from many of the 11 villages that make up the appellation. This is a co-op winery that enjoys incredible access to vineyard sites, and no other winery could manage a blend this ambitious. With 50,000 bottles made (and sold at a good value price), the wine offers classic varietal tones of wild berry, dark fruit, violet, tar and licorice. The tannins are already quite integrated, and this Barolo boasts an accessible side. It will be released this fall. The oak regime is reduced to 26 months (instead of 32 months) in the case of this wine, and you get more easy fruit as a result.
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Wine Spectator
Expressive, this boasts pure cherry, strawberry, rose and anise flavors. Elegant, turning more structured as this winds down on the vibrant finish. Gains complexity from tar and wild herb details. Best from 2026 through 2043.
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James Suckling
Aromas of redcurrants and dark cherries with dried herbs, crushed stones and dried mushrooms. Medium-bodied with firm, linear tannins and fine texture. Compact and polished. Better after 2024.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
A most formidable wine, the lively 2019 Arnaldo Rivera Undicicomuni delivers aromas and flavors of dried spices, subtle sandalwood, ripe berries, and oaky notes. Try it a slow-cooked lamb stew. (Tasted: February 5, 2025, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
Textbook Nebbiolo aromas of cherry, rose, truffle and underbrush all fill the glass. It's fine yet firm on the palate; the tart red fruit core is balanced by dried herbs, savory spice and notes of leather on the bright finish. 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.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.