Arnaldo Rivera Monvigliero 2016
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator - Decanter
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Made from selected grapes from 4 plots in the heart of the Monvigliero vineyard in Verduno, where the vines grow in a light, chalky clay soil on south-facing slopes at an altitude of 250 metres. After gentle fermentation, the wine is aged in large new French oak barrels for 32 months and 6 months in the bottle. The result is an extremely charming Barolo with a beautiful ruby red color, fruity aromas with floral hints and elegant underlying notes of black pepper, clove and crushed limestone, characteristic of Monvigliero's terroir. The wine has a lovely silky-smooth structure in the mouth. The spicy and mineral notes are echoed in the delicate flavor with fresh, ripe red berry fruit.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A powerful, rich red with plum, hazelnut and chocolate aromas and flavors. It’s focused and structured with red fruit, light vanilla and strong tannins. Needs time to soften. Better after 2023.
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Wine Spectator
This chameleon-like red is supple, complex and enticing, featuring a mix of camphor, mint and Aqua Velva aromas, with the second whiff showing pure roses. Cherry and berry flavors are accented by tobacco and earth as this plays out on the lingering finish. Best from 2024 through 2042.
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Decanter
This is the top label of the huge Terre del Barolo cooperative which for some years has made up to seven Barolos from members who adhere to a strict protocol. One of the cooperative's best 2016s was from Monvigliero in Verduno, a site with complex marl soils. The nose, with sumptuous raspberry fruit, is very ripe and oaky without being jammy. The attack is silky, concentrated and elegant, with lifted and pure fruit. It's not a weighty style, but it has persistence and should age well. The Barolo from Rocche di Castiglione is of comparable quality. Drinking Window: 2020 - 2038.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Arnaldo Rivera 2016 Barolo Monvigliero represents a blend of fruit from three sites located within the celebrated Monvigliero cru. The vines were planted between 1948 and 1972 in one site, in 1950 in the second and in 2002 in the third. On average, the vineyards are located at 260 meters above sea level. Extended fermentation occurs over three weeks in stainless steel with malolactic fermentation in oak. The finished wine ages in tonneaux and botte grande for 32 months. The character of this wine is savory and earthy, with some truffle essence spread over black fruit and licorice.
Other Vintages
2019-
Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling -
Wilfred
Wong -
Robert
Parker
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Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling
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.