Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Spiced cherries, raspberry bush, dried sage, ground spices and nutmeg. Medium- to full-bodied with super fine, polished tannins that are compact and seamless. Firm with fresh red berry crunchiness in the middle. Refined and lingering. Power with delicacy. Better after 2025.
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Decanter
Terre del Barolo is a cooperative in Langhe, today focused on different MGAs produced under the Arnaldo Rivera brand. Graphite, smoky woodland and an almost-cola scent from the oak are allied to earthy strawberry and bitter orange notes. The attack is full of sucrosity, with very well handled refined, polished tannins. The wine is extracted, with a great mid-palate and a ripe and warming finish. A modern style but with Pinot-like elegance. High quality winemaking here.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
With fruit from Serralunga d’Alba, the 2019 Barolo Vignarionda is a wine of power and structure that accurately reflects the personality of this village. There are layers of black fruit, dark cherry, metallic ore, rust and grilled rosemary. All the fruit for this wine comes from a single site with sunny southern exposures at 330 meters in elevation. The vines were planted in 2003, and only 3,400 bottles were made this vintage.
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Wine Spectator
Licorice, vanilla and eucalyptus aromas and flavors swirl around the core of cherry in this lithe, solidly built red, which is very expressive, balanced and long, with oak spice accents lingering. Best from 2027 through 2045.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The 2019 Arnald Rivera BAROLO VIGNARIONDA exhibits a faded brick color with orange tints on the rim; a whiff of attic-like complexity mingles with sweet spices on the nose; full-bodied, silky, and dramatic on the palate, it unfolds with cedar-tinged dark fruit and sweet earth flavors, carrying through to a long, seductive finish—best enjoyed with classic Piemontese braised beef in Barolo (brasato al Barolo), where the wine’s richness, depth, and seamless texture echo and elevate the dish’s savory intensity. (Tasted: April 14, 2026, San Francisco, CA)
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.
