d'Araprì spumante, taste of jazz...

This afternoon I went to San Severo, north of Apulia, to visit the Cantina d'Araprì.

San Severo is a renown town for its vineyards and wine production. 

Indeed, lots of vineyards are spread around the countryside of San Severo.

I have to say that today I feel enthusiastic of what I have learned from Girolamo, one of the founders of d'Arapri.

The story of d'Araprì is a story of three friends who actually loved to play jazz together.

Girolamo plays the trumpet, Luigi the piano and Ulrico the double bass.

They used to play music in the Girolamo Mum's wine cellar.

So, 35 years ago, while playing jazz, they had the idea of making spumante.

They started almost for fun, just like three naive teenagers.

According to Girolamo "none in the south of Italy have ever made spumante before us".

"We have spent ten years testing, failing, and then trying again, till achieving what we were looking for" Girolamo says.

"The D'Araprì spumante has begun to be successful in the late '90ies, thanks to magazines such as Gambero Rosso and Cucina & Vini" Girolamo adds.

In other words, the main wine magazines had begun to appreciate more and more the local wine variety, like bombino, from which this spumante is made.

Bombino is a typical wine variety of north of Apulia.

However, these three dreamers have worked hard to realize their dream.

First of all, they moved to Champagne, in France, to pick up the know-how.

After having learned the method, they applied it to their own productions.

In 2014, d'Araprì has been awarded as the best spumante dry in Italy by Sparkle, magazine focused on more than 900 spumanti.

I greatly admire Girolamo, Ulrico and Luigi for what they have done.

Girolamo invites me for a tour down the wine cellar: "we have set up our business in this wine cellar, which actually dates back to the 18th century".

Apparently, San Severo is plenty of very old wine cellars.

"We produce 80.000 bottles per year" Girolamo says. "We sell the 80% in Italy, the remaining 20% between Japan, Australia, Belgium and Czech Republic".

While Girolamo leads me through the dark wine cellar, I hardly hear jazz music.

The more we go on, the more the music turns loud.

Finally, we end up in a huge room where 9 musicians are playing music.

Jazz and spumante, what a magic combination







I recognize Ulrico playing the bass.

The band will hold a concert the day after within the wine cellar.

I am just enchanted by the atmosphere I feel down here.

If you love the wine culture, I strongly recommend you to come to San Severo and visit d'Araprì

You won't be disappointed.

I wish you a 2015 in which your dreams come true.

PS.
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Ruvo di Puglia and the Jatta museum

Ruvo di Puglia is a town located in the province of Bari.

I want to go there mainly to see two things.

First of all, I want to see the Jatta National Musuem of Archeology which I have been told is outstanding.

Secondly, I wish to visit the Cathedral, one of the most remarkable example of Romanico-Pugliese.

I park the car in the inner city, then, I walk toward the Musuem.

The entry is free, so I appreciate it very much.

The Jatta Museum is accommodated in a 19^th century palace bearing the same name.

Jatta was an aristocratic family from Ruvo.

Giovanni  and Giulio Jatta were two brothers, who in the first half of 19^th century begun to collect the precious objects discovered in Ruvo.

The goal was to avoid the scattering of the artefacts, after inordinate or illegal excavations carried out in Ruvo.

The Museum hosts a permanent exhibition of more than 2000 items such as kraters, amphorae, plates, helmets and so on…

The exhibition is still exposed according to the arrangement thought of by Giovanni Jatta.

The main trait of the exhibition is represented by the red shaped ceramics dating between the 5^th and the 4^th century BC, both of local production, and of Greek importation.

The most interesting object is the Attican krater ascribed to the so called “painter of Talos”. 

It is a wonderful example of Greek art.

Another interesting item is a Daunian helmet.

After having visited the Museum I feel very satisfied.

Now, I head to the cathedral.

Unfortunately, it is 1.30 pm and the church is closed. 

However, I walk around the cathedral, captured bt the amazing elements which enrich the church.

The rose window (rosone) is fantastic as well as the gate.

There is a wide range of grapes cultivated in Ruvo such as the white Bombino Bianco, Malvasia Bianca, Greco and Minutolo. 

Concerning the red grapes, there are Montepulciano, Negramaro and Aleatico.

The most popular dish in Ruvo is “tiell”, a maccheroni pie in terra cotta pot cooked in the oven.

buon appetito

Post Scriptum

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