San Leonardo, Trentino, Italy
San Leonardo Estate
San Leonardo, Trentino, Italy
San Leonardo is nestled in the Avio valley at the foot of the pre-alps in the region of Trentino. Its origins date back to the 8th Century BC and in 1215 San Leonardo became a monastery. The estate was taken over by the Marchesi Guerrieri Gonzaga family in 1741.
Today, San Leonardo is a garden of vineyards and roses, protected by the massive barrier of the Alps, which mitigate the northern winds while the valley floor benefits from the warmer climate of nearby Lake Garda.
The estate covers an overall area of 300 hectares of woodland, of which 30 hectares are planted to vineyards at an elevation of 150 metres. An additional 15 hectares are rented vines. The estate’s Merlot is planted to pebble-rich soils that were once the bed of a tributary of the Adige river, while the Cabernet Sauvignon and the older vineyards of Carmenère are planted to predominantly sandy soils.
Marchese Carlo’s father, a passionate winemaker, first reorganised the estate’s potential to concentrate exclusively on wine production. But it was Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga who took the estate to a higher sphere of winemaking passing on his passion to his son Anselmo, who today directs the family winery.
The tenuta’s philosophy remains uncompromisingly artisanal with wines marked by freshness, harmony, and an innate elegance.
“We are committed to crafting uniquely distinctive wines that will eloquently express their terroir and will convey our own spirit and personality, thanks to our painstaking attention to every detail, our striving for uncompromising quality, our meticulous management of the vineyards, and our patient work in the cellar,” says Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga.
The most historic vineyards are outlined by four individual blocks. The first a 75 year old 1 hectare Carmenère vineyard planted to the Pergola trentina system, bearing a width of 5 meters and a density of 1760 plants per hectare, producing a single vineyard Carmenère, which represents one of the main themes of the estate’s storytelling and one of the highlights of a visit to San Leonardo.
“The wine deriving from these vines has a great personality and an extraordinary ability of aging. In its youth it may have a slight vegetal side which then integrates with time giving us a superb wine of depth and structure, with alcohol level which rarely reaches 13° ” says Anselmo Guerrieri Gonzaga.
An additional 2 hectares of Merlot planted to the Pergola trentina system with the same density of 1760 plants per hectare were planted in 1974 forming a second block, while the third block of old vines is represented by a 2 hectare vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon planted in 1978 to the spur cordon system, while the youngest block is a 1 ha Merlot vineyard planted in 1985 to the spur cordon system.
“Our aim has always been to safeguard this old vineyard. With that in mind we carried out a massal selection and selected 5 clones from this vineyard which enabled us to replant new vines where needed in order to preserve the quality and the identity of our heritage Carmènere which represents the essence of the production of our estate and the main identity of all our wines.” says Anselmo.
In 2015 San Leonardo launched a project to convert to organic viticulture and was awarded official certification in 2018. In the same year the BWA Friends of Biodiversity organisation awarded San Leonardo the certification of Friend of Biodiversity, testifying to San Leonardo ́s deep commitment to preserving the character of its area of production.
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