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In the early 1900s, Giuseppe de Corato decided to buy the vast estate called Rivera in Agro di Andria, in the province of Bari: one of the most suitable areas for viticulture in northern Puglia, which today extends over 234 acres.

The land of Andria has a quite remarkable artistic and panoramic charm as well as a strong agricultural vocation: at the beginning of the XIII century, it had already mesmerized Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, nicknamed “Puer Apuliae” (“Son of Puglia): he was responsible for the construction of Castel del Monte, the mysterious manor in blond stone with an octagonal plan that UNESCO has recently recognized as a World Heritage Site – the castle has also become the true symbol of this territory.

Castel del Monte overlooks the Murgia Plateau, from the Latin “murex” which means “sharp rock”. It is a karstic plateau acknowledged as the very backbone of central Puglia, bordering with the Ofanto River Valley – between Foggia and Bari, and the beginning of the Messapian-Salento lowland – between Brindisi and Taranto.
The territory looks harsh and barren without borders or interruptions, except for the presence of the Castle which acts as its silent sentinel. The landscape made of outcropping stones washed and dug by water, before disappearing in several karstic cavities. The vegetation may seem apparently scarce, also due to summer droughts, but it actually features thriving biodiversity.
The work of man has managed to wisely use and arrange the natural stones and rocks into useful dry stone walls, thanks to which the cultivation of olive trees, the vines and almond trees (Prunus dulcis)is now possible, among oak woods and pastures.

The local vines have been cultivated since the times of ancient Greece: centuries of painstaking selection have allowed Rivera Winery to identify native vines with great enological features. Right here, in the 1950s, Sebastiano de Corato, the son of Giuseppe, renewed the cultivation, improved the wine cellar and even built his own bottling facility. It took him a very long time and a lot of efforts to verify the actual adaptability of noble grape varieties coming from other territories, such as Nero di Troia.

The wine cellar features its own historic core that dates back to the 1960s; a new annexe has been recently built and fitted with state-of-the-art winemaking tools and machinery.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)