2018 San Leonardo Vigneti delle Dolomiti IGT Trentino

Winemaker Notes:  More than a thousand years ago, this property was a working monastery, but since 1724 it has been home first to the Gresti family and then to the family of the Marquis Guerrieri Gonzaga, who married into the Gresti family and took over running the estate in 1894. It is run today by the present owner, Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, and his son Anselmo. The estate, located northeast of Lake Garda in the Alpine foothills of Trentino, has always shown a distinct French influence, and is planted almost entirely to Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Carmenere, and Merlot. The San Leonardo, which is not made in poor vintages, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenere and Merlot. This is a seamless and polished wine that shows off the estate to perfection: quite smoky on the nose, with brooding black fruit, it is rich, juicy and concentrated with good acidity and firm but integrated tannins.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM


Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - "This edition from the legendary Tenuta San Leonardo estate in Trentino is presented with an artist-signed label. The special release of 999 bottles features the surreal artwork of Simone Berti. From a cool vintage, the 2018 San Leonardo is incredibly fine and beautiful with a filigree of aromas that recalls wild blackberry, tobacco, pressed rosemary, cherry tartlet and orange marmalade. The wine’s elegance is extraordinary, and the mouthfeel is very fine and precise. This classic vintage will certainly appeal to San Leonardo purists. I recommend giving it a long runway to age."


Decanter - "In July, we finally saw a brilliant sun, whose welcome heat warmed a season that was quite wet up to that point and with below-average temperatures,’ said Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga of the 2018 vintage. The newest release of this standout northern Italian red offers complex scents of tobacco, spices, earth and rich, wood-imbued black berries. In the mouth it combines intense concentration with freshness in a vertical sensation of poise and sapidity. Dark, plummy, spicy hedgerow berries are perfectly balanced by bright, moreish acidity and ripe, grainy tannins, with spicy cedar, dried currants and a touch of balsam in depth. Still has so much to give."


Vinous - "A mentholated freshness introduces the 2018 San Leonardo as it slowly blossoms in the glass. Swirling unlocks depths of dusty sage and violets, giving way to white pepper and black currants. This is elegant, lifted and potent. Sour citrus elevates ripe wild berries and savory spices. The 2018 doesn’t miss a beat, finishing long and lightly structured, with a framework of fine tannins that gently tug at the senses as blackberry and inner rose notes slowly fade. The 2018 is an understated and youthful beauty that will reward medium-term cellaring. That said, hands off for now because the best is yet to come."


Wine Spectator - "A graceful red, beginning quietly with a pure note of ripe black currant, with the palate slowly expanding to weave in flavors of bay leaf and cured tobacco, bitter cherry reduction, mineral, graphite and cigar box spices. The finely knit flavor range shows supple tannins, which emerge to define the elegant finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère and Merlot. Drink now through 2033. 5,900 cases made, 1,300 cases imported."