Tenuta San Leonardo, Carménère, 2016
Tenuta San Leonardo, Carménère, 2016
- 75cl
- 13%
- Red Still
- Carménère
- Organic
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Optimal drinking window: Now - 2035
After banging the drum for the Guerrieri Gonzaga family’s remarkable (and remarkably consistent) Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend for the last fifteen years, we relish each new endorsement and instance of critical appreciation and Jancis’ is the just the latest in a long line of articles from major critics. As a reminder...
The wines of San Leonardo are more akin to Bordeaux than Bolgheri with their balance and purity and (said the late and greatly respected Italian specialist Nicolas Belfrage) "can have an elegance-cum-depth capable of taking on the best clarets of the world". Jancis clearly agrees, noting latterly the wine’s “astoundingly consistent quality” and how each vintage is “beautifully low-key and like the most refined red bordeaux imaginable”, determining it is "Surely the most successful Bordeaux blend of Northern Italy”.
The Wine Advocate’s Monica Larner calls it “… one of the great wines of Italy… Sassicaia and San Leonardo seem like brothers separated in childhood” after James Suckling had previously made the comparison referring to San Leonardo as “The Sassicaia of the North”. The comparison is more than skin deep as San Leonardo’s owner Marchese Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, a rare example (at the time) of a professionally-trained aristocrat-oenologist, spent time at Tenuta San Guido back in the 1960s helping create Sassicaia with legendary consultant, Giacomo Tachis, whom he subsequently employed at his own estate. The estate has received the top ‘Tre Bicchiere’ rating from Gambero Rosso for an unprecedented seventeen vintages, and has twice been voted by aggregate Italy’s top wine release of the year (jointly with Sassicaia, to continue the comparison).
Antonio Galloni weighs in saying “The Guerrieri Gonzaga’s are one of the great families of Italian wine. Over the years, the Guerrieri Gonzaga’s have produced a number of stellar Bordeaux-influenced reds at San Leonardo, many of which I have had the privilege to taste.” Meanwhile his colleague at Vinous, Eric Guido, after a 28-vintage vertical, says “If you enjoy classic Bordeaux, if you enjoy the energy and verve of Italian wine, and if you crave experiencing history in a bottle, then you should seek out Tenuta San Leonardo”. He also concludes “I frankly don’t remember the last time I found so much pleasure in tasting for hours on end”.
"One of my personal favourite Italian wines, unquestionably the top winery in the region and renowned as one of the most consistent – stylistically and qualitatively – in the whole of Italy, YET its wines remain extremely well-priced by comparison to more widely publicised names."
Tom Harrow, Honest Grapes Wine Director
What the critics say:
"The Tenuta San Leonardo 2016 Carmenère is less immediately expressive compared to the warm 2015 vintage that I tasted at the same time. However, my money is on this bottle for longer aging potential, and I'm sure the wine's aromas will prove fluid and complex with additional bottle age. Even now, it shows enormous precision with dark fruit, spice and a good dose of crushed white pepper."
"From the moment I tilt the glass, the 2016 Carménère makes itself known with an intensely spicy and pungently floral bouquet that mixes crushed stone and smoke with dried flowers, white pepper and red currant. It's undeniably silky and refined, yet medium in body, as tart wild berries mix with savory spices and hints of sour citrus, all enlivened by juicy acidity. While long and saturating with primary concentration, the 2016 comes across as only lightly structured yet harmonious, with a subtle coating of sweet tannin and sour citrus that lingers, along with hints of tart raspberry and minerals. There's an open-knit feel to this today, but it also has the balance for a long evolution. Very nice. "
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