Sipping Mastroberardino and Rivera Wines in Italy

Read part one of my trip through southern Italy, with tasting notes for the fantastic wines that I tasted in Sicily. Keep reading to see which wines I tried in Campania and Puglia.

Mastroberardino, Campania

This is another well-respected, family-owned, historical estate set in the hilly area of Avellina, with vineyards spread around the region.

Mastroberardino 2010 Fiano Di Avellino

This wine has a complex, fruity, nutty and mineral nose, with a medium-full body, richness and a dry and long finish. This is built to last. We tried the 2002 vintage and it was gorgeous, with nutty and floral notes.

Mastroberardino 2010 Greco di Tufo

A ripe and tropical fruit nose, with mineral notes and a rich body. This wine has a refined palate, with lots of fruit, but it is so elegant.

Mastroberardino 2009 Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Rosso

This wine has a smoky, tar and cherry nose, with herb and spice, even though there is no oak. A very cool regional red.

Mastroberardino 1999 Centotrenta Taurasi Riserva

The Mastroberardino Riservas spent 30 months aging in French barriques and Slovenian oak barrels and 5 years in the bottle before release. It is fantastic, with classic and aged fine wine notes of leather, meat, tobacco, balsamic vinegar and dried fruit. It has such a silky texture and long finish. A “Wow!” wine.

Rivera, Puglia

This is one of the most renowned wineries in Puglia. Owned by the de Corato family, Rivera is particularly famous for their age worthy Il Falcone wine.

Rivera 2010 Pungirosa

This special rosé is made of 100% bombino nero, a unique red grape variety from the area. High acidity leads to a fresh and crisp wine, with floral and red fruit notes and strawberry flavours.

Rivera 2008 Violante

A curious wine, with black fruit, floral (violet, they tell me), leather and earth notes. It has big, drying and astringent tannins and is very tight, but the wine will smooth out with age.

Rivera 2005 Il Falcone

This Rivera flagship wine will age for decades. It has perfumed oak notes, with gamey, leather and dried fruit notes and a smooth palate. We tried the 1995 and 2000 vintages at lunch, both of which showed pleasant aged character. The 2000 vintage tastes quite young, with forward fruit and a pleasant, Old World stink.

Rivera 2006 Puer Apuliae

A rare nero di troia clone selected from the oldest vineyards and aged in new barriques, it has chocolate, dark cherry and berry notes, with smooth and sweet oak. It’s a very modern wine compared to the Il Falcone. We tried the 2001 and 2002 vintages and they were very different. The 2001 vintage was wonderful, with savoury, oak and tobacco notes and a sophisticated finish. The 2002 vintage was tight, with iron and mineral notes and big tannins.

As you can tell from this heavily edited selection of wines, this trip was filled with fantastic vino and the food at the local restaurants and wineries was at least as good. Consider me spoiled by southern Italy.