Rivera
The de Corato family of the Rivera winery use the indigenous Primitivo grape variety to make first-class wines.
The appellation Castel del Monte originated from an enigmatic building. Emperor Frederick II of the House of Hohenstaufen commissioned a castle here with an extraordinary design: the octagonal main building is surrounded by eight octagonal towers. Viewed from the air, this Unesco-protected monument resembles a crown. It is thought that the emperor had it built to house state treasures, but these have never been found.
However, in the 1940s the de Corato family recovered a completely different kind of treasure: old, native grape varieties, which were already starting to die out. Carlo de Corato, the founder of the Rivera winery, was a firm believer in the potential of such native varieties as Nero di Troia, Primitivo and Bombino nero, among others; and all this in a time when Puglia did not even merit a mention in the quality maps of Italian or overseas wine connoisseurs. His determination paid off: today the family – Carlo de Corato works side by side with his sons Marco and Sebastiano – are reaping the rewards of their 75 hectares of vines.
Familie de Corato
Sebastiano, Marco and Carlo de Corato (f. l. t. r.)
