2014 San Leonardo
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Tasting notes
The Tenuta San Leonardo 2014 San Leonardo has fleshed out nicely since I tasted the wine in a preview capacity a few years back. The cool, humid vintage is associated with a tendency toward greener flavors and thinner wines in many of its peers. You get some of that here; however, the wine shows a bouquet that has expanded far beyond those youthful parameters to show dark cherry, cassis, toasted nut and mountain herb. The tannins are polished but firm, and there's just enough textural snap or elasticity to hope for a long and healthy cellar aging. As usual with Tenuta San Leonardo, you need to have patience before opening this wine. Production is 70,000 bottles.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carmenère, 10% Merlot. 58,800 bottles produced. Deep ruby. Gorgeous, expressive, cool blackcurrant nose. This is ‘Cabernet & Co’ alright but not trying to imitate anything, it is its own blueprint. Perfumed dark fruit. Alpine freshness and lifted fruit supported by soft oak aromas and a hint of saffron and iron. Red fruit and cassis on the palate with finely chiselled tannins. Elegant and poised, this is easily one of the very few bordeaux blends in Italy that express both terroir and vintage characteristics. (WS)
The 2014 San Leonardo is understated at first, yet remarkably pretty and poised. The 2014 shows floral-laced strawberry and cherry, with hints of fresh thyme and cedar dust coming forward over time. Fleshy textural fruits soothe all that they touch, while remaining balanced and cool-toned. Gentle acids aid that tug at the cheeks, while sweet spices and inner florals punctuate the finale. Fine-grained tannins resonate, as the mouth waters with crunchy minerality while tart red berries linger on. The 2014 was the result of a difficult and rainy vintage, yet it shows quite well even today.
I'm intrigued to see how this wine that I have admired over so many years – the first vintage I tasted was the 1982 – has fared in Italy's ill-fated vintage 2014. Looks quite mellow with its garnet colour and verging-on-rust rim. Pretty light nose and marked acidity. San Leonardo has always been known for subtlety and this is very subtle indeed! Light bodied and well balanced, it has great delicacy and pretty impressive length even if there is not (yet?) much on the nose. It's very obviously San Leonardo but in a minor key. I wouldn't keep it for long. Served blind, it would be frighteningly easy to overlook. Its charm is all on the finish. The next day I went back to this wine 24 hours after I had double decanted it the night before. Tasted from the half-full bottle I was impressed by the fact that it had bloomed overnight and, if anything, taken on weight. This suggests to me that it will last in bottle longer than I initially thought, and it is probably worth decanting it anyway. (JR)