Winescout.info                Original & exciting wines from producers who deserve it to be better known

Navigation bar is missing? Please click
home

and learn more about winescout.info - other original and exciting wines, criteria, opinions and updates.



Italy

Rivera  Puer Apuliae Nero di Troia 2002, D.O.C. Castel del Monte. **HERITAGE WINE**

Colour: opaque, nearly black red, with no purple.
Nose: still a bit closed, still very young, after airing a bit more expressive, beautiful thick, rich, sweetish spicy and complex fruity, warm, complex, deep, tobacco, a touch rustic and earthy, many hidden nuances: hints of smoke, tar, olives, herbs, vanilla, some raisins. Difficult to catch, not elegant, but intense and impressive.
Taste: very intense, powerful, rich, meaty, compact and strong core, but with lots of plush and sweet tannins, spicy, with obvious oak, warm and earthy, with impressions of smoke, rich and mineral fruit, loads of powerful tannins, but ripe and surprisingly soft, deep, still closed and only showing part of its potential, well knitted together, excellent balance and very impressive combination of power and structure. No elegance or grace, but a full throttle wine.
Finish: very long, impressive, intense, rich and warm, with loads of spicy, and earthy tannins, sweet richness and minerals, earthy spicy fruit.

* Not a wine for the faint hearted: immense, black wine with richness, power, intensity, a touch of rusticity, concentration and depth, with loads of tannins, earthy and spicy fruit, impressions of smoke and minerals, all knitted closely together, surprisingly soft for such a strong, warm and impressive wine.

- Drink from now on, will improve over the next 5, maybe 10 years, I am not familiar with the ageing capabilities of this type of wine, maybe it lacks the tough structure and strong acidity to keep it going for more than 5 years. I am also not sure how the aroma's will evolve, but the balance in this wine is so great anything could be possible. If you can afford it: try a bottle now and then. You better drink a wine a bit too soon than too late.

- Produced by one of the most reliable, well organized and quality oriented producers in this part of Puglia. An intelligent mix of modern technology, good vineyards, high quality grape varieties and most importantly deep knowledge, skill and passion makes Rivera a superb performer and prime example in Puglia. An impressive range of very good to excellent wines, is produced: from the freshest rosé (Rivera Rosé 2004) to this most rich, powerful and impressive red made of the indigenous Nero (Uva) di Troia grape. This grape tends to give wines so tough and hard you almost need to be born in this region to be able to appreciate it. Rivera has tamed this grape in an impressive manner. It still is not an example of elegance, but in its class it is highly approachable. The concentration is so immense, you hardly notice this wine is matured in new barriques, the fruit and body have totally absorbed and integrated the wood. An excellent example how wood can be used to give wine an extra dimension; how to be supportive. Do not seek refinement, but let yourself be impressed by the power and intensity of this great representation of the climate, soil and native grapes from the hot south of Italy.
 

- lotnr.: L 4002

- tasted: 21-03-'05

- estimated retail price ca. 25 euro

- average production: not indicated

- Azienda Vinicola Rivera, Mr. Sebastiano de Corato, SS 98, km 19.800, Contrada Rivera, 70031 Andria (Ba) Italia; Tel. +39-0883 569501; fax.: +39-0883 569575 ; e-mail: info@rivera.it ; web site: www.rivera.it
- export agent: Enoteca Nederland,  Mr. Maarten Bonants, tel.: +31-344613736, fax.: +31-344612550, e-mail: info@enoteca.nl