Paul Caputo is a UK based wine writer, judge and critic. He is a VinItaly International Academy Ambassador and writes regularly for various publications. He previously ran an online wine merchant and successful pop up wine bar. He is now working on Vinorandum - a wine business data technology startup. In 2020 he won a Millesima Award for his writing.
Paul Caputo is an award winning UK wine writer, critic and media entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the wine business. Starting his career as a specialist importer of boutique Italian wines for a high net worth private client list, he continued to develop his business online and ultimately into a city centre wine bar and retail unit. During this time Paul wrote for specialised wine and lifestyle publications, producing regular columns for print and digital. In 2008 he collaborated with an oenologist to produce his own Aglianico del Vulture red wine which was distributed in the UK.
In 2014 he co-authored a published guide to the Wines of North Macedonia. He judged in numerous OIV wine competitions in Europe, including IWSC, Mundus Vini, Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, Bucharest Wine Competition, Citadelles du Vin, Concorso de Vermentino, a number of winemaker technical panels in Bulgaria and Serbia. Paul was also a panel chairman for successive years at 5 Star Wines in Verona.
He has also been a guest speaker twice at Wine2Wine, a well known wine business marketing conference, as well as in the Balkans on subjects such as the development of wine tourism. Over time Paul developed a specialism for Italian and Balkan wines. He completed the notoriously difficult Italian wine Ambassador exam with the VinItaly International Academy. He collaborated with The Buyer to produce The Italian Job podcast with Richard Siddle. He has won a Millesima award and a Hungarian Wine Writing award for his writing. He has participated in around 150 press trips and been invited on many more.
In recent years, he has chosen to focus on Vinorandum, a large wine scale technology project that provides in depth guides and reports on wine regions, grapes and producers. This project is now venturing into wine tourism with a new (in beta) project called Wine Cities, essentially providing information and recommendations for focused wine travel experiences. As a critic, Paul tastes and scores wines using the 100 point system and is particularly recognised and respected in Italy with producers frequently using his scores as an important part of their sales engine. In 2023 he completed an invite only ambassadorial course with Orvieto DOC. Paul is considered one of the wine trade’s next-generation writers and communicators.
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"Cool red fruit. Some bright raspberry and strawberry, backed up by rose petal and sweet spice. Mellow, dry tannins, but a character of crunchy red fruit. Well balanced. Fairly simple and straight forward in the glass. Good price point. Unfiltered. Throwing some material. A slighter softer approach to Gaglioppo, and has the benefit of a few years of age to it now."
"Intense lemon, white peach and jasmine on the nose, backed up by fragrant notes of pineapple and orange blossom. A touch of butter emerges with time . On the palate it is crisp, steely, with a shimmering streak of ripe citrus. Pleasant, full, weighty, with a mineral texture. There's a lovely mouthfeel, with faint touches of lees ageing in the background. Outstanding high acid wine full of depth, elegance and gravitas."
"Very floral nose that pushes forth vanilla and brioche aromas to compliment distinctive lemon. Obvious barrel ageing on the nose, but it's restrained enough; the palate is full bodied with a plump, fatty texture. Mellow citrus, honeysuckle and vanilla. Still fresh and vibrant. Well made."
"Dark fruit notes, but fairly earhty. Herbal spices, and sweet vanilla scents adds complexity to a base of black cherry and bramble. Grippy palate, with prominant tannin and acidty. Good frame, with lean fruit. Complex finish. Top quality expression of Aglianico del Taburno. "
"Clean, expressive lemon and melon on the nose. Lightly creamy texture with lots of succulent citrus, mineral, zest and a modest finish of flowers, lemongrass and faint grapefruit."
"Floral notes of dried flowers, broom and geraniums. A little bit of evolution showing on the nose. Attractive. Moorish. Savoury nuances envelope apricot and mandarin. Nice structure. Very crisp, tart, fresh. Aperitif vibes. Crunchy yellow fruit on the finish."
