Address: S.Leonardo – 38060 Borghetto A/Adige – Avio (TN) ITALY
Phone: +39 0464 689004
Website: www.sanleonardo.it
Visitors are welcome at Tenuta San Leonardo. Please book your visit by telephone at least two weeks in advance. Visitors are reminded that we can only accept visits on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 a.m., and from 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate any visits at harvest time because of the estate staff’s many commitments during this period.

The history of Tenuta San Leonardo dates back at least fifteen hundred years, to the days when a group of prisoners from Trentino, held by the Lombard duchy, came home after their release at the intercession of Queen Theodolinda and Bishop Agnellus. The men had spent a period of confinement in France after their capture by the Frankish army. On their release, the former captives decided to give thanks to the patron saint of prisoners, Saint Leonard, by erecting a chapel.

The earliest evidence of the estate itself dates from the ninth century of the Christian era, when Nottingus, the bishop of Verona, granted in usufruct to the bishop of Trento the woodlands, meadows and vineyards he owned at Sarnis in Vallagarina. Three centuries later, the Fratres Cruciferi, an order with adherents all over Europe and which remained at San Leonardo until 1656, expanded grape growing and adopted a modern approach to viticulture at their monastery. Today, the Romanesque apse survives, with its hanging arches on the outside and fragments of frescoes inside. The ancient monastery hospice, which once gave shelter to the destitute, is the cellar where our wines mature in their barrels.

Over the centuries, Tenuta San Leonardo has witnessed many historic events. Legend has it that it was here that Queen Theodolinda became the bride of Autari, king of the Lombards. On 21 January 1549, Philip, son of the Holy Roman emperor, Charles V, was received on his way to the Diet at Augsburg by the prince bishop of Trento and lord of the four vicariates, Cristoforo Madruzzo. More recently, wine from the estate cheered the guests at the table of the Viennese cardinal, Cristoforo Migazzi, a descendant of the Conti Migazzi, who had taken over Tenuta di San Leonardo. Cristofoto became archbishop of Vienna in 1757. In the two world wars, San Leonardo was the headquarters first of the high command of the Italian 29th army corps. In fact it was here that Austria made a formal request for an armistice. During the second world war, San Leonardo was the headquarters of the counterespionage section of the German high command on the Italian front.

The Guerrieri Gonzaga family succeeded to the property through the female line in the mid 18th century, and then by direct line in the early 20th century. Today, the family is proud to have the stewardship of an estate with such an august heritage. In history and in legend, this ancient fief has for more than a millennium respected, safeguarded and promoted the farming tradition of a fertile corner of Vallagarina, maintaining the healthy custom of producing good wine that in the past has cheered the tables of cardinals, emperors, princes and soldiers. Today, that same wine is available to render more convivial the encounters and reminiscences of wine lovers all over the world.

Tenuta San Leonardo, an ancient walled settlement, extends over almost 300 hectares of what was once a medieval fief. About 20 of those hectares are planted to vine on fairly loose-packed hillside soil. The vines face north-south at between 150 and 200 metres above sea level. Higher up, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon are grown on sandy soil while Merlot has found a welcoming home on the pebbly soil slightly lower down.

Tenuta San Leonardo was the first estate to introduce the Guyot system of cane pruning into the province of Trento. The age of the vines ranges from 10 to 25 years and planting densities vary from 4,000 to 5,500 vines per hectare. The traditional local varieties are Lambrusco a foglia tonda, Marzemino and Teroldego but for our wine quality project we have opted for the classic grapes of the Haut Médoc and Bordeaux blending.

The varieties planted are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. These grapes go into San Leonardo in the respective proportions of 60%, 30% and 10%. We are particularly satisfied with the results we have achieved from Cabernet Franc, which on the Tenuta San Leonardo terroir ripens to perfection and acquires a markedly less green, rustic personality than usual. It is Cabernet Franc that gives our wine such longevity and elegance. This Estate’s outstanding Bordeaux blend has received ‘Tre Bicchiere’ from Gambero Rosso in ten out of of the last twelve vintages and was also numbered among the Guide’s ‘Fifty Wines which changed Italy’. It is also one of the highest acclaimed wineries in all of Alto Adige.