WINEMAKER NOTES:
Arnaldo Rivera is the flagship range of wines from Terre del Barolo. This Barolo comes from the Ravera Cru, a top site in Novello, sourced from six parcels at a high elevation of around 1300 feet. The nose is intensely smoky, with raspberry and strawberry aromas. The calcareous white soils produce beautiful fruit aromatics, whilst the due-south sun-facing aspect add considerable depth to the fruit and ripeness to the firm tannins. Directness of fruit is also brought forward by a degree less oak than their other Cru wines, with some smaller format wood -- but none of it new. It's sleek and stylish, a lifted wine that's taut and spicy with fine-grained tannins. There's tension and persistence here, with a long and elegant finish. A long and profound Barolo to approach now or cellar a good while, the Ravera is a classic.
TASTING NOTES:
A juicy and tannic Barolo, yet the tannins are soft and rounded with plenty of ripe strawberry and cherry character. It’s full-bodied with lots of richness and length. Meat and walnuts to the dried fruit. Give it two or three years to soften.
- James Suckling, 94 pts.
The Arnaldo Rivera 2016 Barolo Ravera is actually a blend of fruit from six vineyards located within the cru, planted at various stages from 1963 to 1968, 1970, 1991, 1992, 1997 and 1999 to 2002. The winemaking approach is the same as the other single-vineyard wines in this series, which see 32 months of aging in tonneaux and botte grande. The bouquet offers dark fruit and savory spice with tilled earth and cardamom pod. The Ravera also shows a meaty tone with bresaola or cured ham, but this is only a very light accent. The mouthfeel is tight and linear, with dusty tannins on the close. Some 5,600 bottles will hit the market in September 2020. This is one of my favorites in the series.
- Robert Parker, 93 pts.
This opens with aromas of dark-skinned berry, cedar and new leather. The full-bodied palate offers blackberry jam, mocha and vanilla alongside assertive but fine-grained tannins.
- Wine Enthusiast, 90 pts.
