Tenuta San Leonardo

Tenuta San Leonardo - Wine as time-honored walls

More than 1000 years ago it was a monastery, but for more than three centuries San Leonardo has been the residence of the Marchesi Guerrieri Gonzaga family, proud owners of the estate. Today, the San Leonardo estate is a garden of vineyards and roses, protected by the massive barrier of the Alps, which intercepts the force of the cold northern winds, while the valley floor benefits from and in turn gives off the warmth of nearby Lake Garda. The Tenuta remains an ancient world where the still uncompromising artisan winemaking produces wines that are true jewels of the Italian wine tradition, characterized by freshness, harmony and an innate elegance. The winery is always at the center of historical events, for example, the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian troops after the First World War was negotiated here.

The Guerrieri Gonzaga family - winemakers at San Leonardo

The soul of San Leonardo is embodied by the Guerrieri Gonzaga family, who were vintners here as early as the 18th century. They have been involved in every aspect of the winery throughout its long and fascinating history, and their traditions permeate every corner of the property. Marchese Carlo's father, a passionate winemaker, first redesigned the winery between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Carlo, however, was the family's first true winemaker: his love of great wines led him to focus almost exclusively on San Leonardo for over fifty years. He in turn passed on this passionate love of the vine and wine to his son Anselmo, who now runs the family winery, with every decision inspired by this love for the estate loved by so many generations of his family.

The vineyards of Tenuta San Leonardo

The winery is located in the Adige Valley, between the slopes of Monte Baldo and the Lessini Mountains. The winter snow often covers the vineyards and protects them from severe cold, whereas during the growing season of the vines a particularly favorable climate favors the development and ripening of the grapes. The temperature differences between day and night, which are considerable even in the summer months, not only enhance the aromas of the grapes, but also prolong the ripening period. Throughout the year, and especially in the hottest months, the Ora del Garda wind blows over the vineyards, warming and drying the leaves, protecting them from fungal diseases - a true gift of nature.

The terroir

The winery covers a total area of 300 hectares, of which 30 hectares are planted with red grape varieties, starting at an altitude of 150 meters. The grape varieties grow on specific soils:

• Merlot on pebbly soils that once formed the bed of a tributary of the Adige river
• Cabernet Sauvignon and the old Carmenère vineyards on predominantly sandy soils

These are well-drained soils with low fertility that produce wines with an anthocyanin content that is unusual for Trentino. In 2015, San Leonardo launched a project to convert to organic viticulture, which was successfully completed at the end of 2018 with official certification. In the same year, San Leonardo was certified as a Friend of Biodiversity by the BWA Friends of Biodiversity organization, confirming San Leonardo's great commitment to preserving the character of its growing area.

The harvest, the most delicate moment of the year, takes place between mid-September and late October. The grapes are tasted and analyzed daily to determine their optimal degree of ripeness, on which the sublime elegance of the wines depends. They are then harvested and immediately transported to the winery, where they are destemmed, pressed and quickly put into tanks to preserve their freshness and aromas.

Tenuta San Leonardo and its cellars

The venerable fermentation cellar contains only concrete barrels. Here the red wines begin to ferment spontaneously, without the help of technology or cultured yeasts. This fermentation usually lasts no longer than 15/18 days, during which the grapes are pumped over and destemmed several times. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is drawn off and the remaining marc is gently pressed under the watchful eye of San Leonardo's cellar masters, who have passed this art down from generation to generation. As is often the case with older wineries, the cellars are arranged on different levels. From the courtyard you enter the fermentation cellar, which contains concrete vats on several levels, built just after the First World War. Recently, the older underground cellar in the heart of the Borgo has been rebuilt with its large vats where large quantities of wine are blended. Only the underground barrel cellar, built in 2001, has a single large room where the wines are aged in small oak barrels for at least 24 months.

The Wine Library - Treasury of the Tenuta

At the heart of the Tenuta is the estate's wine library, where bottles from all the vintages of San Leonardo, beginning with the opening year of 1982, are kept in perfect conditions. Every year, numerous bottles of different sizes pile up here, which will continue to refine and improve, each according to its own character. These vintage wines are released in small batches, but only when they can express in perfect harmony their individual personality and the elegance that distinguishes them.