Decanter awards the Copertino Doc Riserva

The new international acknowledgment for the Winery from Copertino

Copertino Doc Riserva Cantina Sociale Cupertinum Salento

Decanter awards the Copertino Doc Riserva with the Silver Medal and 90 points! Decanter is one of the most powerful magazines in the world. Already in 2018, the Cupertinum received a Bronze Medal and two Certificates at the International Decanter Competition, with the Salento IGT: Negroamaro, Spinello dei Falconi Rosato and Primitivo. This year the Cupertinum is keeping on improving and this new important recognition prizes our endeavor.

Decanter, monthly magazine of wine culture in English, with its editorial board in Great Britain and distributed in 90 countries, organizes every year, since 2004, the Decanter World Wine Awards, the most important and attended international wine competition. The results of the competition will be published in the August edition of Decanter, but the communication, signed by director Steven Spurrier and his collaborators, has just reached us and our oenologist Giuseppe Pizzolante Leuzzi and president Francesco Trono immediately wanted to share this satisfaction with our associated members, with the community of Copertino and the whole Salento: “thanks to this international award. It will contribute to enhance not only these wines but also the territory and its touristic and cultural riches“.

We remind that the Cupertinum wines, especially the red ones based on negroamaro and primitivo, have been appreciated by the English critics for over half a century. For example, Hugh Johnson, the great old man of wine critics, the contemporary author who more than any other contributed to wine literature, and now a contributor at Decanter, already in the ’80s, with the Sunday Times Competition, awarded two wines of the Winery from Copertino: Rosato and Copertino Doc. And recently, on Decanter itself, Simon Woolf wrote: “Excess of wood from barriques is a widespread problem, but Cupertinum, one of the oldest and largest cooperatives in Salento, instead, gives a brilliant example with its Copertino Riserva, aged in vitrified tanks, really delicious”. The labels of the Cupertinum “stand out for their elegance and an excellent relationship between quality and price“. A winery that “has the talent to express the most visceral and sublime Mediterranean spirit in the bottle. An unmissable address for lovers of Negroamaro”.

“I see confirmation and surprises in the new 2026 wine guides for our wines. With these awards, Cupertinum confirms its status as a company of excellence, reliable over time, dynamic in identifying new goals and achieving them,” says Francesco Trono, president of Cupertinum. Winemaker Giuseppe Pizzolante Leuzzi, now accustomed to the awards that come flooding in year after year, is also satisfied: “The focus on quality and modern winemaking that respects tradition is understood and rewarded. These awards reward the members, the winery’s workers, and the territory.”

 Here is a brief list of recent awards and prizes received by Cupertinum wines:

  • Cupertinum has been included among the best Italian wineries in Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book guide to wines from around the world. The renowned guide, edited by Margaret Rand, recommends: Copertino Riserva, Settantacinque, Spinello dei Falconi, and Negroamaro!
  • Danielle Callegari of Wine Enthusiast award: 92 points to Copertino Riserva DOC; 91 points to Primitivo Salento IGT: “two fantastic deals from this winery that confirm the high quality of the company’s labels.”
  • Wine Spectator awards Copertino Riserva DOC 2015: 89 points and Aldieri Primitivo Salento IGT 2021: 89 points (“well-elevated reds, medium-bodied, with light tannins,” says expert Eric Guido).
  • As far as international recognition is concerned, another great result is worth mentioning: the Gold Medal at the International Wine & Spirits Awards for COPERTINO RISERVA and POGGIANI Negroamaro.
  • Guida essenziale ai vini d’Italia (DoctorWine Daniele Cernilli )awards Copertino Riserva 92 points and Spibello dei Falconi 90 points.
  • The VITAE guide published by the Sommelier Association awards 4 VITI to Settantacinque Copertino and 3 VITI to Copertino Doc, Copertino Riserva, Poggiani Negroamaro, and Spinello dei Falconi. The sommeliers write: “wines of recognized and appreciated quality; the Negroamaro, in its various forms, represents the jewel in the crown.”
  • SlowWine: Cupertinum is featured in the SlowFood guide with the TopWine award for Spinello dei Falconi and a beautiful description that highlights the advantageous quality/price ratio, with accurate and complimentary organoleptic descriptions of all the wines.
  • The Touring Club’s Vinibuoni d’Italia guide awards our wines 4 stars to Copertino DOC Riserva, Copertino DOC and Spinello dei Falconi and 3 stars to Squarciafico Rosato and Settantacinque.
  • Bibenda, the guide published by the Italian Sommelier Foundation, awards Settantacinque, Copertino DOC Riserva, Aldieri Primitivo, and Poggiani Negroamaro with 4 Grappoli.
  • The Veronelli Guide awards 3 Red Stars to Settantacinque Copertino DOC and 2 Stars to all wines, with special mention to Spinello dei Falconi and all Copertino DOC wines.
  • The Il Golosario guide by Gatti/Massobrio names Primitivo as a Top Wine.

“Wine is the song of the earth to the sky” wrote the master of food and wine criticism Luigi Veronelli. It is worth repeating this for the awards given to Cupertinum wines!