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2018 Vette di San Leonardo
Country: Italy Italy   Region: Trentino-Alto Adige
Type: White   Style: Dry
Drinking: 2020 - 2025

100% Sauvignon Blanc Vette is named for the imposing peaks that rise above its Sauvignon Blanc vineyard, and it is the true height of refreshing crispness and earthy minerality. A wine with a distinctive freshness tinged with floral notes, with a stylishly woven structure and complex minerality. Its name is a tribute to its truly Trentino identity, while the Marchesi Guerrieri Gonzaga guarantee quality by selecting grapes personally from the Val di Cembra growers.

Producer: Tenuta San Leonardo (Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga)

www.sanleonardo.it


Tenuta San Leonardo in Trentino has been home to the Guerrieri Gonzaga family for over three hundred years, but it is only since the second half of the twentieth century, when Marchese Carlo took over, that this estate began to take wine production seriously. Following a spell working at Tenuta San Guido with the creator of Sassicaia, Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, he was inspired to see if the clay-limestone soils of his family estate could yield similar results to those achieved by his mentor. In 1978 the first Cabernet Sauvignon vines joined the Merlot and Carmenère that had long been planted, and in 1982 the first vintage of the flagship San Leonardo was produced. The wine has changed very little since then. The estate covers an overall area of 300 hectares, of which the vineyards, planted to red grapes beginning at an elevation of 150 metres, amount to 30 hectares. Merlot is planted in pebble-rich soils that were once the bed of a tributary of the Adige, while Cabernet Sauvignon and the old vineyards of Carmenère are in predominantly sandy soils. All are well-drained, low-fertility soils that yield wines with truly unusual levels of anthocyanins, and not just for the Trentino. In 2015, San Leonardo launched a project of conversion to organic viticulture, which concluded successfully in late 2018 with the award of official certification. In the same year, the BWA Friends of Biodiversity organisation certified San Leonardo as a Friend of Biodiversity, testifying to San Leonardo ́s deep commitment to preserving the character of its growing area. Recent vintages display the same timeless elegance and subtlety as the first, traits that are echoed through the rest of the range, and that have helped secure San Leonardo’s place in the pantheon of great Italian wineries.

Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
  • Sauvignon Blanc

    Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage ("wild") and blanc ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin. Sauvignon blanc is planted in many of the world's wine regions, producing a crisp, dry, and refreshing white varietal wine. The grape is also a component of the famous dessert wines from Sauternes and Barsac. Sauvignon Blanc is widely cultivated in France, Chile, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil, Moldova and California. Some California Sauvignon Blancs are also called "Fume Blanc," though this is often perceived to be a different type of wine.
    Depending on the climate, the flavor can range from aggressively grassy to sweetly tropical. Wine experts have used the phrase "crisp, elegant, and fresh" as a favorable description of Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire Valley and New Zealand.
    Sauvignon Blanc, when slightly chilled, pairs well with fish or cheese, particularly Chèvre. It is also known as one of the few wines that can pair well with sushi.
    Along with Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc was one of the first fine wines to be bottled with a screwcap in commercial quantities, especially by New Zealand producers. The wine is usually consumed young, as it does not particularly benefit from aging, except for some oak-aged Pessac-Léognan and Graves from Bordeaux that can age up to fifteen years. Dry and sweet white Bordeaux, typically made with Sauvignon Blanc as a major component, is another exception

Tasting Notes 1 Average Score: 89/100
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Eric Guido
Vinous.com
Nov 2020
89/100 2020 2024 The 2018 Sauvignon Blanc Vette di San Leonardo is lifted and precise, showing white flowers, lemony citrus and crushed stone. It’s round and soft, complemented by ripe orchard fruits, yet quickly framed by zesty acids, minerals and a tart tug of citrus that lingers. This is wonderful, pure, fresh and mouthwatering, without overemphasizing the grassy notes that Sauvignon Blanc often shows.

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