A delegation of the American University of California “DAVIS FRESNO STATE” on an official visit at “CUPERTINUM” the winegrowers’ cooperative of Copertino

On the 31st July the Copertino wine cooperative, called “Cupertinum”, welcomed four American students: Tori Lewis, Alex Kasai, Derick Webb, Shawn McIlvenna, who had expressed, along with the Program Director of the US DAVIS Fresno State, the desire to know the company and its wine. This activity is part of the program of Global Wine Industry Internship Program developed by YLTOUR in partnership with the American University of California. They were hosted by the president of the wine cooperative, Mr. Francesco Trono, and the deputy mayor of the municipality, Ms. Laura Alemanno.  The latter was charged with representing the municipality desire to establish new relationships with other countries, in particular the USA.

At the meeting there was also the engineer Mirko Manca, the wine expert Mr Giuseppe Pizzolante Leuzzi and Mr and Mrs Hunter, the only American family residing in Copertino, who had the task of being interpreters and making the guests feel at ease. The deputy mayor made a speech to welcome the guests on behalf of the mayor, Sandrina Schito, and the whole town administration. The wine cooperative “Cupertinum” is considered a crucial point of reference in the field of enology and in that day, focused on the topic of wine, it has also become an important backdrop for exchanges of cultures, traditions and territorial peculiarities.  The wine expert told the agriculture students that the associated vine growers produce high quality wines thanks to their deep knowledge of the vineyards, the organoleptic features of their grapes and the specific cultivation needs.  Mr. Francesco Trono wanted in particular to have the students know the history of the wine cooperative, which was born in 1935 thanks to the will of 36 vine growers associated in a cooperative; their purpose was to give value to their cooperative and look after the vinification of their grapes and the trade of their wines. Today there are 300 proud partners who give their own crops. The cultivated fields are about 350 hectars.  Mr. Francesco Trono let  the students see some historical documents, some pictures and some pages of old newspapers concerning the history of the wine cooperative. At the end of the didactic journey they could taste the wines deriving from the cultivation of different kinds of grapes: Negroamaro, black Malvasia, Primitivo and white Malvasia of Lecce. The council member Mauro Valentino gave the final greetings to the group. In the past months he had already organized important economical and cultural exchanges with the city of Cupertino in California, which is twinned with our town in the name of our great Saint.

CUPERTINUM, cantina sociale cooperativa di Copertino / Via Martiri del Risorgimento 6 – 73043 I – Copertino (Lecce) tel. (+39) 0832 947031; fax (+39) 0832 947031; email: cantinacopertino@libero.it contatti@cupertinum.it sito web - http://www.cupertinum.it/	University of California, Davis sito web: http://www.ucdavis.edu California State University, Fresno sito web: http://www.fresnostate.edu/
Comune di Copertino - Provincia di Lecce  73043 COPERTINO (Lecce) - Via Malta, 10 Tel. (+39) 0832 93 83 11 (centralino) - Fax. (+39) 0832 93 35 22 sito web: www.copertino.it Email: info@comune.copertino.le.it	A document written by: Romina Leo, email: rominaleo@libero.it Mirko Manca, email: manca.mirko@gmail.com