2018 Tenuta San Leonardo, Terre di San Leonardo, Vigneti Delle Dolomitti IGT Rosso, Italy.
The second wine of the famous San Leonardo, in Italy’s Trentino-Alto Adige region and is a similar to the Grand Vin here with 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Carmenère in the blend, making a very unique and distinctive Bordeaux style wine, with this 2018 being very outer Medoc like in the glass, showing off a medium/full palate of dark fruit, mixed spices, delicate flowers, earthy notes and smoky wood notes. This dark garnet Terre bottling, coming from younger vines on a mix of sandy soils and clay from these high elevation vineyards, is wonderfully value packed, delivering a very rewarding performance in the glass with blackberry, plum, dark currant and cherry fruits, along with loamy earth, tobacco leaf, allspice, charred cedar, creme de cassis, anise, black olive, bell pepper and mineral tones. The more approachable Terre was made 100% de-stemmed grapes with a spontaneous fermentation and maceration, lasting between 12-15 days in small concrete vats with daily punch-downs before being racked off to age 12 months in 50% concrete vats and 50% in twice used French oak barriques and tonneaux, with medium toast. For best results here, definitely have this lovely San Leonardo Terre with a hearty meal, though pleasurable by itself, it becomes richer, smoother and complex with food.
San Leonardo, a legendary estate near Trentino and the Alto Adige in the Dolomites that is well known for their Bordeaux style top bottling that has, which is highly coveted by wine enthusiasts and a very rewarding treat. Founded in 1724 the Tenuta San Leonardo is one of Italy’s most iconic wine estates, and wine, which is a unique Bordeaux blend from up in the Italian Alps with a centuries-old history, far before the modern times legends of Bolgheri happened upon the scene in the later part of the 1960s. A classic cool climate Bordeaux blend, typically about 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Carmenere, with some years seeing a small percentage of Cabernet Franc as well. Interestingly Carmenere, which has long been in Italy, had almost been forgotten in Bordeaux itself since Phylloxera wiped it out in the late 1800s, until vines in Chile were discovered, even though it had a continuous happy home here in Italy. It has influenced the character here in San Leonardo’s blend for many generations with its earthy spice and bell pepper notes. Though younger, the vines that go into Terre di San Leonardo, are all located within the ancient walls of the estate’s monastery, with the winery noting that the soils are light and sandy for Cabernet Sauvignon and Carmenère, while the more clayey soils with excellent drainage are exclusively reserved for Merlot, all of which are carefully tended to produce this beautiful wine. I am becoming a huge fan of this winery and I highly recommend San Leonardo, and in particular this stellar bargain.
($30 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive