Cosimo Taurino
Founder
In Memoriam
Cosimo Taurino, or “Mimmo” as he was commonly known to all, was born on November 6, 1939 in Guagnano, a quiet town in the Salento area of Puglia. The Taurino family has been dedicated to wine and winemaking for many generations.
Cosimo attended the University of Pavia, located in northern Italy, where he studied Pharmacy. While in Pavia, he noticed that many northern Italian winemakers were using the wine from the southern regions to reinforce their own wines, which were less rich in alcohol and color. He resolved that one day he would help the wines of his native region of Puglia to achieve commercial success in their own right.
After marrying his wife Rita, and the births of his son Francesco and daughter Rita, he left the security of his pharmacy career to embrace the family’s wine business. Realizing that the agriculture of the south could never gain the recognition it was due under the existing wine business structure, Cosimo was decided to having his family begin to bottle their own wines.
The first bottlings at Taurino were done completely by hand, washing the bottles and attaching the labels one at a time. Cosimo immediately began traveling throughout Italy representing the wines of Puglia-- a modern businessman and entrepreneur, and a natural advocate for the wines of the region.
His first endeavor was Notarpanaro (named for the estate where the vineyards are situated) in 1970. Patriglone, developed in collaboration with winemaker Severino Garofano, followed shortly thereafter. In 1980, he met Leonardo LoCascio at the Vinitaly Wine Expo in Verona, marking the beginning of his commercial success in the United States.
Cosimo Taurino’s recipe was to study, experiment and produce great wines. His enthusiasm and dedication opened the door to mainstream recognition for wines of Salento. Within just a few years, other wine producers from Puglia began to achieve similar success. Cosimo was a true inspiration, transferring his enthusiasm and dedication to all who worked with him.
Mimmo Taurino, a symbol of the winemaking revolution in Puglia and southern Italy, died in August of 1999. His legacy is carried forth by his wife, son and daughter who are running the estate with great enthusiasm in honor of Mimmo.
Cosimo “Mimmo” Taurino was one of the first producers to bottle and sell wines from Puglia in the international marketplace. As founder of the Taurino winery, he was one of southern Italy’s greatest promoters of reasonably priced, high quality wines. Before Taurino, the rich wines from this hot, arid region of southern Italy were primarily sold in bulk and used in blends to strengthen better known wines from northern Italy and France. In 1982, Taurino began selling his wines in the United States and quickly established a solid market, becoming the vanguard of Puglian wineries determined to produce fine wines from their own region. Never one to be content with the status quo, Cosimo experimented with his winemaking, creating such pinnacle wines as Patriglione. This wine and the others reflect the Taurino family’s commitment to a worthwhile goal: producing wines from Puglia that will be admired and respected worldwide. Since Cosimo’s unfortunate passing in 1999, his wife Rita, son Francesco, and daughter Rosanna are running the estate with great enthusiasm in honor of “Mimmo”. In recent years, they have added 50 acres of new vineyards with plans for an additional 75. The family has also constructed a new winery in celebration of Cosimo and his dedication to the wines of Salento.
