San Leonardo 2017

The wine in this vintage

Spring frosts and a very hot, dry summer reduced yields across much of Italy in 2017, producing concentrated wines for which managing ripeness was crucial. In the cool microclimate of Borghetto all'Adige, San Leonardo 2017 found a good balance: ripe black fruits, plum, sweet spice, tobacco and a balsamic note, with soft tannins and an enveloping palate. Antonio Galloni awarded it 93 points. This is a sunnier San Leonardo, already enjoyable today, which can nonetheless be kept for several more years. It pairs naturally with grilled red meat and aged cheeses.

The producer · Tenuta San Leonardo

Tenuta San Leonardo is one of the most fascinating stories in Italian wine. It lies at Borghetto all'Adige, at the southern tip of Trentino in the Vallagarina, where an ancient monastic settlement became over the centuries the home of the Marchesi Guerrieri Gonzaga, owners for more than three hundred years. It was Marchese Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, who studied winemaking partly in France and worked with consultant Giacomo Tachis, who believed that this narrow, breezy valley between the mountains, with its marked day-night temperature swings, could produce a great Bordeaux-style red. Thus San Leonardo was born, from Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère and Merlot, soon dubbed the Bordeaux of Italy. Today the estate, led by his son Anselmo, is farmed organically and keeps a classic style: wines of elegance rather than power, underpinned by freshness, fine tannins and remarkable longevity, released only after extended ageing.

Critics' scores

• 93 Antonio Galloni

Technical details

Producer

Tenuta San Leonardo

Region

Trentino Alto Adige

Country

Italia

Type

Rosso

Vintage

2017

When to drink

Hold, still evolving

Critics' average

93/100

Sizes

75 cl, Magnum 150 cl, Case of 6 × 75 cl

eWibe code

0790117