Falciato Leverano DOC
Own label of Laithwaites
- Grape
- Negroamaro
- Denomination
- Leverano DOC
- Region
- Puglia
- ABV
- 12.5%
- Drink
- 2025: 2026 to 2029
A Laithwaites exclusive from Leverano DOC in Salento: a Negroamaro-led blend at 12.5% ABV with dark cherry, soft spice and a chocolatey edge. Plush, medium to full bodied, made to drink young with roasts and ragù.
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Where to buy Falciato Leverano
One shop on this page sells this wine, so there is no price to compare between shops. Each price is the one we last read on its page, on the date beside it.
No current retailer offer matches that combination.
Stock status is read from each retailer’s page several times a week and may lag.
Tasting Falciato: Leverano's dark cherry and cocoa
Falciato follows the Leverano DOC rosso blueprint: a Negroamaro-led blend with dark cherry and plum fruit, light spice and a chocolatey edge, and the 2025 shows exactly that.
- Tasted by
- ItalianWines editorial
- Tasted on
- 18 July 2026
- Vintage in glass
- 2025
- Source
- Style guidance · confidence Medium
- Typical of Negroamaro
Dark cherry and plum lead, lifted by the light fennel-and-pepper spice that runs through Leverano's Negroamaro-led rosso. A chocolatey depth sits underneath rather than on top.
Medium to full bodied and silky at a moderate 12.5% ABV, well under the 14% plus that many warm-climate Salento reds reach. Leverano DOC rules demand at least half Negroamaro and it shows: plush dark fruit and soft tannin. The appellation's mandated 4.5 g/l minimum acidity keeps the sweetness of ripe 2025 fruit in check.
Medium length, closing on cocoa and Negroamaro's gently bitter amaro twist rather than oak; the Leverano disciplinare imposes no barrel ageing on the rosso and this is bottled young.
An own-label Leverano DOC bottled only for Laithwaites. It is a rare UK sighting of a Salento appellation set up in 1979 and mostly drunk locally. Open now through 2029. The appellation's benchmark rosso from the Leverano cooperative is an easy, warm, velvety wine, and this follows the same template.
Buying Falciato in the UK
Falciato is bottled exclusively for Laithwaites, so the single listing at £15.99 is the whole UK market for this label; Leverano DOC otherwise rarely leaves Salento.
How Falciato scores as an Italian wine pick
Falciato's plush, low-tannin Leverano style lifts its food, beginner and everyday scores, while the drink-by-2029 window caps the cellar case.
Silky, plush and chocolatey at 12.5% ABV with no aggressive tannin; Negroamaro's gentle bitter finish is the only quirk a newcomer will meet.
Medium to full body, soft tannin and Leverano DOC's 4.5 g/l minimum acidity make it flexible across roasts, ragù and aged cheese. Only fierce chilli heat is off the table.
Drink-young style and sub-£20 price suit weeknight roasts and pasta, though £15.99 sits above true house-wine territory.
At £15.99 for an own-label Leverano DOC, you pay a premium for UK exclusivity: benchmark bottles of the appellation sell for around 6 to 9 euros in Italy. That is our own judgement against the category, not a live price comparison.
An entry-tier DOC own-label rather than a statement bottle; a generous table red, not a gift or celebration centrepiece.
No ageing mandate in the Leverano disciplinare and a drink-by of end 2029: released young, buy to drink, not to lay down.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
Leverano in five fields
A compact view of what the Leverano denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
The 2025 vintage in Salento
2025 was a generous Puglian harvest, up 17% on 2024 with quality the regional press called excellent; Negroamaro came in from mid-September after even, gradual ripening.
- Best price
- £16.00
- Retailers
- 1 in stock
- ABV
- 12.5%
- Window
- Drink now through 2029
Salento's 2025 season ran hot and dry through summer yet ripened gradually and evenly, and Puglia's harvest came in 17% up on 2024 with quality the regional press rated excellent. Negroamaro was picked from mid-September; drink this ripe, ready vintage before the end of 2029.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
What to eat with a Negroamaro-led Leverano rosso
The disciplinare's own matches for Leverano rosso are meat-led pasta, roast or grilled meat and medium-aged cheese; Falciato's soft tannin and 12.5% ABV keep all three comfortable.
Sunday roast beef and lamb
Roast beef and lamb suit Falciato's structure: a medium to full Negroamaro-led Leverano rosso whose silky tannin wraps around roast meat without heavy grip. At 12.5% ABV it stays comfortable across a long Sunday lunch.
Try with: Sunday Roast Beef · Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce · Leg of lamb · More pairings →
Hearty ragù and slow-cooked meat
Leverano DOC mandates a minimum 4.5 g/l acidity. That freshness cuts through slow-cooked meat and tomato-based sauces, while the dark cherry fruit echoes softened tomato. A lamb ragù is the natural southern Italian call.
Try with: Agnello Ragu Lucano · Beef stew · Lamb shank · More pairings →
Aged pecorino and hard cheeses
The plush, chocolate-edged fruit balances the salt crystals of well-aged cheese, and the Leverano disciplinare itself lists medium-aged cheese among the rosso's classic matches. A mature pecorino is the local table's default.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · aged Parmesan · mature Cheddar · More pairings →
Chargrilled and barbecued meat
Roast and grilled meat are the Leverano disciplinare's stated pairings for the rosso. Falciato's soft spice and cocoa notes bridge to char and caramelised edges on grilled lamb, without the alcohol spike a 14.5% Primitivo brings to the barbecue.
Try with: Lamb chops · Rack of lamb · Lamb Kebab · More pairings →
Fierce chilli heat
Chilli amplifies alcohol and bitterness. Against real heat the 12.5% warmth and Negroamaro's amaro twist turn harsh, and the plush chocolatey fruit reads jammy. Keep Falciato away from Sichuan fire and hot Indian gravies.
Skip with: Crispy chilli beef · Szechuan beef · Lamb bhuna · Tandoori lamb chops · Pairing guide →
Falciato and the cellar: a drink-now red
No Leverano rosso carries an ageing mandate and the 2025 carries a 31 December 2029 drink-by date, so treat Falciato as a wine to enjoy, not to store.
For the main offer above.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.
No ageing mandate in the Leverano disciplinare and a drink-by of end 2029: released young, buy to drink, not to lay down.
£16.00 for a 75cl bottle of the 2025, at Laithwaites, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.
Sources behind this Falciato page
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Last refresh: 6 Nov 2026, 04:53 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighThe name on the label belongs to Laithwaites, a shop, not to a winery. Laithwaites is the only UK shop we track that sells it, so there is no price comparison to make. How we tell estate, shop and brand labels apart.
Confidence · HighA style read drawn from the grape and the appellation, not from this exact bottle. We mark these notes openly so you know what you are reading.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, from how this wine is made, the rules of its appellation, UK duty and VAT and the price shops charge for it today. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumThe drinking years for the main offer apply to its 2025 vintage. Treat them as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumFalciato's place in the Italian wine map
Common Questions
The producer is not named: Falciato is an own-label Leverano DOC red bottled for Laithwaites, part of Direct Wines. The fruit comes from the small Leverano zone in Salento. Most of the appellation's Negroamaro is farmed by the village cooperative Vecchia Torre, founded in 1959, and the Conti Zecca estate. The label does not disclose which cellar supplied this parcel.
Falciato is sold as a red blend without a published recipe. Leverano DOC rules require at least 50% Negroamaro in every rosso, with Malvasia Nera di Lecce, Montepulciano and Sangiovese permitted alongside, so Negroamaro leads whatever the exact mix.
Dark cherry and plum with light spice and a chocolatey edge, medium to full bodied and silky at 12.5% ABV. Expect the gentle bitter twist on the finish that marks Negroamaro; tannin stays soft throughout.
Roast beef or lamb, hearty ragù and aged cheeses are the natural matches. They track the Leverano disciplinare's classic pairings of meat-led pasta, roast or grilled meat and medium-aged cheese. Avoid fierce chilli heat, which clashes with the wine's warmth and bitter edge.
Drink it between now and the end of 2029, the drink-by date for the 2025. Leverano rosso carries no ageing mandate and is released young; the generous, evenly ripened 2025 Salento harvest made ripe wine that is ready from day one.
You are paying for UK exclusivity as much as for the liquid: benchmark Leverano DOC rosso retails around 6 to 9 euros in Italy but almost never reaches Britain. Judged as a plush, soft southern red on a UK shelf, it competes with mid-priced Primitivo and Salice Salentino, not with supermarket Puglia IGT.
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How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
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