Tenuta San Leonardo

Tenuta San Leonardo is a historic estate in Trentino, Italy. Unlike many other producers in the region, San Leonardo is known for its wines made from Bordeaux grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère and Merlot.

The estate was purchased by the Gresti family in 1770, after they had managed it for around a century for the Church. In the early part of the 19th Century the estate cultivated international grape varieties for the Austrian Court, providing courtiers with wines such as Burgundy, Rulander, Chablis and Riesling. The Villa Gresti was constructed in 1874, and the first Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted in 1978 by Gemma de Gresti's grandson Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, now the estate's proprietor.

The 25 hectares (62 acres) of vineyards are planted on fairly level terrain stretching up onto the hillsides. The soils here are farily diverse, ranging from alluvial gravel to sand, although all are nutrient poor and well-drained. The grape varieties grown here include Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Carmenère has been grown at Tenuta San Leonardo since the late 1800s, but was mistaken for Cabernet Franc up until the 1980s. The Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling wines are produced from grapes picked and purchased from northern Trentino growers.

Tenuta San Leonardo makes two main wines: the San Leonardo, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Carmenère and Merlot first released in 1982, and the Villa Gresti, made from Merlot with a small amount of Carmenère. The grapes are fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in cement tanks, before barrel aging. San Leonardo spends up to 24 months in new and pre-used small oak barrels and at least 24 months in the bottle before being released to the market. Villa Gresti is aged in barriques for a maximum of 14 months and undergoes 12 months of bottle aging.