Rivera's drive for top quality begins with the uncompromising management programme for its 95 hectares of estate vineyards. Trained to the spur-pruned cordon system at a density of some 4,800 vines per hectare to ensure low yields, they are divided into three main sections.
The first two, Torre di Bocca and Coppa vineyards, are planted at elevations ranging from 200 to 220 metres on deep calcareous tufa soils, and predominantly to red grape varieties. The third section, the Lama di Corvo vineyard, is higher up, between 320 and 350 metres, in the rough, rocky hills of the Murgia; this altitude is perfect for ripening white varieties. A handful of trusted grapegrowers supply the remainder of the grapes that are needed.
The Castel del Monte D.O.C., which regulates one of the most exceptional growing areas in Apulia, could hardly be given any other name but that of its most illustrious symbol. The D.O.C. zone, north of Bari, covers all the areas of the Alta Murgia that slope down towards the Adriatic, including two that share the same Mediterranean climate but are quite different in soil types and landscape. Above 300 metres reigns the rocky plateau of the Murgia; among the pastures and cultivated fields are the traditional vineyards trained a spalliera bassa, or with low vertical canopies, planted in the low-lying lame where their roots can find nourishment even in the driest summers.
Between 180 and 300 metres, on the other hand, the pre-Murgia zone is characterised by deep, calcareous-tufa soils that host an endless series of olive groves, vineyards, and golden fields of grain. The traditional varieties here are native grapes, the white Pampanuto and Bombino Bianco, and the red Bombino Nero, Nero di Troia, Montepulciano, and Aglianico, plus - thanks specifically to research done by Rivera -, the foreign white varieties Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, which are now included in D.O.C. regulations.
The original core of the cellar dates back to the early 1900s, but growth over the years has brought ever more modern equipment. A new wing was added to the cellar in the 1960s, provided with fibreglass-lined vats, and it is now entirely temperature-controlled. Today there is a new, totally modern fermentation facility, with small-capacity stainless-steel tanks for fermenting white wines and macerating rosés and red wines on the skins. The maturation of the red wines takes place in two underground spaces containing over 600 225- and 400-litre French oak barrels and large 5,500 and 3.000-litre Slavonian oak casks or botti.
