Description
The Tenuta San Leonardo 2016 is a very fine Bordeaux-style red that is, somewhat unusually for Bordeaux blends, from Trentino in northeast Italy. The wine is two-thirds Cabernet Sauvignon with some Merlot and Carmenere, so it has the dark fruit of Bordeaux, as well as the structure and complexity for ageing, but is a slightly richer wine than its French counterpart, with a lovely depth of flavour.
San Leonardo was described as the ‘Sassicaia of the north’ by critic James Suckling, which partly alludes to its quality, but also to the fact that the owner of Tenuta San Leonardo, Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, spent time working at Tuscany’s Sassicaia. He returned to his estate, keen to plant Cabernet Sauvignon on the clay and limestone soils there, to see if similar results could be achieved. The first vintage was produced in 1982 and it remains a delicious, impressive wine and a smart buy. It is relatively well-priced due to the fact that it is not in the glitzier area of Tuscany, but sitting in its own fine wine hinterland in Trentino, on the banks of the Adige river, in an old monastery. At 9 years of age, it is ready to drink but, in half bottle, will age at least another 5-8 years. It easily competes with Bordeaux.
