Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
San Leonardo 2021: A vintage of light and shade
Raffaele Mosca tries the latest vintage from this renowned Trentino producer and hears why light – not heat – is the foundation of the very best vintages.
Tenuta San Leonardo occupies the site of a medieval monastery on the floor of the Trentino valley, the corridor which links Veneto with Alto Adige.
Known for its flagship red, which, unusually, includes Carmenere alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, San Leonardo's estate has been home to the Guerrieri Gonzaga family for the last 300 years.
Surrounded by woodland and dotted with vineyards, the jewel in the crown of the estate is the impressive garden maintained by the family and attached to the 19th century Villa Gresti, which serves as the family home.
It was at the recent launch of the new 2021 vintage of San Leonardo in Palazzo Taverna in Rome, that the link between nature and wine, light and shade, became apparent.
As the evening unfolded beneath gilded chandeliers, Caravaggio-esque paintings and Flemish tapestries, leading Italian artist Chiara Camoni presented Spiritelli di Terra e Vegetazione (‘Sprites of Earth and Vegetation’) as part of the estate's ‘Arte a San Leonardo’ project (see boxout below).
‘We recognise that light – distinct from heat – is the foundation of great vintages’.
Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga
Light and shade
Situated at the southern reaches of the mountainous Trentino region, San Leonardo is defined by its alpine energy.
Even in the scorching vintages of the past decade, it has retained a sleek, finesse-driven style.
Decanter newsletter
Get our daily fine wine reviews, latest wine ratings, news and travel guides delivered straight to your inbox.
In Rome, Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga commented: ‘2021 was an outstanding, eagerly anticipated vintage across Italy. At San Leonardo, it was a year of extraordinary light – and that matters, because we are in a narrow valley where the sunlight isn’t always direct.
‘Looking back over 40 years of records, we recognise that light – distinct from heat – is the foundation of great vintages.’
Already fairly expressive, this newly released 2021 vintage will please those drawn to fresher styles straight out of the gate, yet Anselmo maintains it has a long life ahead.
‘The 2021 is a marathon runner,’ he explains. ‘Perhaps it will last a little less than legendary vintages like 1988 but we expect it to drink well for forty years or more.’
The highly acclaimed 2019 is 2021’s most natural benchmark: similar in depth, though even tighter and aromatically more reserved, reflecting a slightly cooler season.
Only time will tell which of these two great vintages will ultimately prove superior, yet there is little reason to doubt that 2021 ranks among the most complete and cellar-worthy San Leonardo releases in recent years.
Nature and wine – an artistic endeavour
(Image credit: Tenuta San Leonardo)
Designed specifically to feature on the labels of a limited run of 999 bottles and 99 magnums, the 2021 Arte a San Leonardo features organic imprints of natural materials gathered from the estate and symbolises the estate’s complex ecosystem.
Tenuta San Leonardo, Vigneti delle Dolomiti, Trentino-Alto Adige, Italy 2021
My wines
Slightly riper on the nose than both 2019 and 2020, the 2021 San Leonardo shows notes of blackberry yoghurt, graphite-laced cassis and cedar mingling with...
Raffaele Mosca is an independent wine writer based in Rome and Abruzzo. He holds a master’s degree in Wine Culture and Communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo and an advanced sommelier certification from Fondazione Italiana Sommelier. In Italy, he collaborates with leading food and wine publications, Lucianopignataro.it and Gambero Rosso, and manages a personal website, Sommelierlife.it.
