Rupìcolo Castel del Monte 2024, Rivera

Rivera’s 2024 Rupìcolo offers a fresher, more nimble expression of Puglia than the region’s biggest reds. It blends 50% Montepulciano, 40% Nero di Troia, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, grown on the limestone and calcareous-tuff soils of the Murgia hills within the Castel del Monte DOC.

Wild raspberry, cherry, plum, violet, and black pepper lead into a smooth, medium-bodied palate with bright acidity and fine, gently savory tannins. Nine months in lined concrete allows the wine to soften without picking up oak flavor, keeping its fruit lively and clear.

This is an easygoing but far from anonymous Italian red, perfect with sausage pizza, meatballs, mushroom ragù, grilled pork, roast chicken, lentil soup, or aged cheeses. A slight chill would not hurt it, either.

About the Winery

Rivera’s story begins in 1921, when Giuseppe de Corato purchased a large agricultural estate outside Andria that had belonged for centuries to the noble Rivera family. The property retained its historic name, and in the late 1940s Giuseppe’s youngest son, Sebastiano, founded the winery in its old cellars. His ambition was unusually forward-looking for the time: to demonstrate that the limestone hills surrounding Castel del Monte could produce serious, distinctive wines worthy of representing Puglia beyond the region.

Sebastiano’s son Carlo took the reins in the 1970s, introducing extensive vineyard experimentation and modernizing the winery while strengthening its focus on native grapes. Today, Carlo works alongside his sons Sebastiano and Marco, the family’s fourth generation, as well as production director Angelo Mauriello and consulting enologist Marco Bernabei.

The estate now encompasses approximately 150 hectares, divided roughly between sustainably cultivated vineyards and centuries-old olive groves. Its vineyards stretch across the rocky Murgia landscape, where limestone soils, elevation, and cooling Adriatic winds offer a fresher counterpoint to the hotter conditions found farther south in Puglia. Native varieties such as Nero di Troia, Bombino Nero, Montepulciano, Aglianico, and Fiano remain central to Rivera’s identity.

Across more than seven decades, Rivera has helped establish Castel del Monte as one of southern Italy’s most distinctive wine regions. Even an everyday bottling like Rupìcolo reflects the house philosophy: ripe fruit balanced by freshness, regional character without rusticity, and enough structure to belong at the table.