Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A vibrant and juicy red, exuding cherry, raspberry, floral and spice flavors. Accents of earth, tar and underbrush emerge as this winds down on the long aftertaste. This is harmonious and approachable now yet better in a few years. Best from 2027 through 2042.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2020 Arnaldo Rivera BAROLO UNDICICOMUNI® shows a light ruby, brick color; offers lovely, almost hypnotizing aromas of a well-stocked kitchen spice rack; medium bodied with a pleasing sense of weight and balance on the palate; playful yet serious berry flavors keep it honest and engaging; finishes smooth and composed—perfect alongside a delicious, unpretentious plate of tagliatelle with sausage and mushrooms, where the savory richness and earthy tones meet the wine’s spice and fruit without overwhelming its graceful, easygoing charm. (Tasted: April 6, 2026, San Francisco, CA)
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James Suckling
Restrained red cherry pits, red currants, cinnamon and some earthy minerality. Sucrosity on the palate, with a full body, crisp acidity and refined, velvety tannins. Tense and tight yet balanced finish. Drink or hold.
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.