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More wines available from Gonzaga San Leonardo
750ml
Bottle:
$76.72
From the moment I tilt the glass, the 2016 Carmenere makes itself known with an intensely spicy and pungently floral...
750ml
Bottle:
$28.32
The 2020 Riesling is more lifted and graceful in style, with a pretty bouquet of lemon oils, minty herbs and hints of...
750ml
Bottle:
$162.72
The 2011 San Leonardo (Cabernet Sauvignon, Carmenère and Merlot) is another landmark edition of this celebrated...
375ml
Bottle:
$36.72
The 2015 San Leonardo pours forth with a beautiful velvety appearance and sultry dark garnet color. This wine shows a...
750ml
Bottle:
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$82.32
The Tenuta San Leonardo 2017 San Leonardo (in a heavy glass bottle) shows subtle but unmistakable generosity and...
More Details
Winery
Gonzaga San Leonardo
Vintage: 2008
2008 saw very high yields across wineries in much of the southern hemisphere, as a result of highly favorable climatic conditions. Although in many areas, these high yields brought with them something of a drop in overall quality, this could not be said for South Australia's wines, which were reportedly excellent. Indeed, the 2008 Shiraz harvest in South Australia is said to be one of the most successful in recent decades, and western Australia's Chardonnays are set to be ones to watch out for. New Zealand's Pinot Noir harvest was also very good, with wineries in Martinborough reportedly very excited about this particular grape and the characteristics it revealed this year.
Pinot Noir also grew very well in the United States, and was probably the most successful grape varietal to come out of California in 2008, with Sonoma Coast and Anderson Valley delivering fantastic results from this grape. Elsewhere in United States, Washington State and Oregon had highly successful harvests in 2008 despite some early worries about frost.
However, it was France who had the best of the weather and growing conditions in 2008, and this year was one of the great vintages for Champagne, the Médoc in Bordeaux, Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence, with Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grapes leading the way. Italy, too, shared many of these ideal conditions, with the wineries in Tuscany claiming that their Chianti Classicos of 2008 will be ones to collect, and Piedmont's Barberesco and Barolo wines will be recognized as amongst the finest of the past decade.
Region: Trentino/Alto Adige
The northernmost Italian wine region of Trentino-Alto Adige has been producing unique and characterful wines for centuries, and is today widely considered to be the home of Italy's finest white wines, and several outstanding red wines, too. The region itself is quite unlike any other in Italy, as a large Germanic population and the proximity to other European countries has led to a range of interesting influences on the viticulture of Trentino-Alto Adige. The result is a range of wines made with native and imported grape varietals which are packed full of beautiful alpine flavors, and white wines which have all the crispness and dryness of the finest German wines. Trentino-Alto Adige is a region where traditional practices reign supreme, and it is heartening to see that most of the region's output still comes from relatively small, independent family run wineries, dedicated to the quality and uniqueness of their produce.
Country: Italy
There are few countries in the world with a viticultural history as long or as illustrious as that claimed by Italy. Grapes were first being grown and cultivated on Italian soil several thousand years ago by the Greeks and the Pheonicians, who named Italy 'Oenotria' – the land of wines – so impressed were they with the climate and the suitability of the soil for wine production. Of course, it was the rise of the Roman Empire which had the most lasting influence on wine production in Italy, and their influence can still be felt today, as much of the riches of the empire came about through their enthusiasm for producing wines and exporting it to neighbouring countries. Since those times, a vast amount of Italian land has remained primarily for vine cultivation, and thousands of wineries can be found throughout the entire length and breadth of this beautiful country, drenched in Mediterranean sunshine and benefiting from the excellent fertile soils found there. Italy remains very much a 'land of wines', and one could not imagine this country, its landscape and culture, without it.