Tenuta San Leonardo, Vette di San Leonardo Sauvignon Blanc, 2025
Tenuta San Leonardo, Vette di San Leonardo Sauvignon Blanc, 2025
- 75cl
- 13%
- White Still
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Organic
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Optimal drinking window: 2026 - 2029
Est. delivery in October, 2026
San Leonardo is best known for its Bordeaux-blend red of the same name, one of Italy's most celebrated and collected bottles. Vette di San Leonardo is something of a sidestep — a Sauvignon Blanc grown high in the Trentino Alps that trades on cool-climate precision rather than the estate's red-wine gravitas. The name means 'peaks', and it earns it: these are mountain vineyards where the diurnal temperature swings are significant and the growing season unhurried, producing a white with real focus and energy.
This is a wine built for near-term drinking rather than long-haul cellaring — its appeal lies in the freshness and aromatic precision that will be at their peak in 2026 and 2027. By 2028 the citrus will have softened slightly, the herbal lift may quieten, and a rounder, more honeyed character could emerge, which some will enjoy. After 2029 we'd expect the acidity to still hold but the primary fruit to have faded, leaving a wine that is technically correct but missing the energy that makes it worth opening. Drink it while it's singing.
What the critics say:
"A super-intense wine with aromas of asparagus, melon, fennel and vibrant lemons. Light-bodied, crispy and very expressive, with integrated zesty acidity and a good, chewy finish. Drink now."
Tasting Notes
AppearancePale straw with a faint green rim and good clarity.
NoseImmediate and vivid: white grapefruit, lime zest, and freshly cut grass with a cool, almost flinty underpinning. There's a subtle elderflower quality that suggests the altitude is doing its job — aromatics preserved, nothing blowsy.
PalateCrisp and focused, with good weight without any excess richness. Citrus fruit leads, backed by a saline, mineral thread that keeps everything taut. The acidity is lively and persistent without being aggressive.
FinishClean and refreshing, with a lingering grapefruit pith bitterness that adds length.
Overall impressionA precise, alpine Sauvignon with genuine personality — and a useful reminder that San Leonardo does more than one thing very well.
Food Pairings
In Trentino, this style of crisp, aromatic white is a natural companion to freshwater fish from the mountain lakes — trout in particular, whether pan-fried with butter and capers or simply grilled. Locals would also reach for it alongside canederli, the bread dumplings that are a staple of the region, especially when served in broth with smoked speck. A plate of local cheeses — younger, milder alpine styles like Puzzone di Moena before it gets too pungent — works well too. And in the right company, it's perfectly at home with a simple plate of cured meats and pickled vegetables from the Val di Non.
We think this wine would go well with
Serve well chilled, around 8-10°C, to preserve the aromatic lift and keep the acidity feeling fresh rather than sharp. No need to decant — pour straight from the bottle and let it warm slightly in the glass over the first few minutes. A tulip-shaped white wine glass works well here, concentrating the aromatics without overwhelming them; a standard Sauvignon Blanc glass is ideal.
The Vette vineyards sit at altitude in the Trentino Dolomites, where cool mountain air moderates what could otherwise be a warm continental climate. Large swings between day and night temperatures preserve natural acidity in the grapes and slow ripening to a point where aromatics develop fully without losing freshness. The soils are predominantly alluvial with stony, well-drained elements that keep the vines alert and yields naturally low. This combination of altitude, thermal variation, and lean soils is precisely what makes alpine Sauvignon Blanc so distinctive from its Loire or Marlborough counterparts.
Trentino DOC covers the Adige valley and its surrounding alpine slopes in the far north of Italy, bordering Austria and Switzerland. It permits a wide range of varieties — both indigenous and international — with Sauvignon Blanc increasingly prized in the cooler, higher-altitude sites. The DOC's cool climate and mountain topography give wines a lifted, aromatic character and naturally high acidity that distinguishes them from Sauvignons grown further south. Compared to neighbouring Alto Adige, Trentino tends to produce slightly rounder wines, though at elevation the distinction narrows considerably.
The 2025 vintage in Trentino is, frankly, too recent for us to offer you the kind of forensic detail we'd want to — harvest only concluded in autumn 2024 for most producers, and by the time you're reading this, many of the 2025s are still quietly doing their thing in cellar. What we can say is that the broader Alpine arc experienced a warm, dry summer punctuated by useful rainfall at key moments, conditions that tend to favour Trentino's altitude-cooled sites particularly well, where the diurnal range does the heavy lifting in preserving freshness.
Early indications from producers we trust suggest 2025 has produced wines with good concentration and lively acidity — Teroldego and Pinot Grigio both appear to have come through in fine shape, and the Trentodoc base wines look promising. These are early days, though, and we'd rather say that honestly than dress up uncertainty as expertise. Watch this space; we'll update our notes as bottles land and we get them open.
FAQs
What does Vette di San Leonardo taste like?
It's a crisp, alpine Sauvignon Blanc with white grapefruit, lime zest, fresh herbs, and a clean mineral edge. Think focus and freshness rather than tropical richness — this is cool-climate Sauvignon at its most precise.
When should I drink the 2025 vintage?
Right now, frankly. The 2025 will be at its best from 2026 through to around 2028 or 2029. The whole point of this wine is its freshness, so there's no great case for sitting on it.
What food should I serve with this wine?
Pan-fried trout, grilled fish, lighter pasta dishes with lemon and herbs, or a board of younger alpine cheeses. It's also a very good aperitivo wine — especially with something salty to play against the citrus acidity.
How should I serve it?
Serve chilled at around 8-10°C, straight from the bottle into a standard white wine or Sauvignon Blanc glass. No decanting needed.
Is this worth cellaring?
Not really — and that's not a criticism. This wine is designed to deliver pleasure young, and its freshness is its best quality. Buy it to drink, not to store.
How does this compare to San Leonardo's famous red?
It's a very different proposition. The San Leonardo red is a structured, age-worthy Cabernet blend with a serious international reputation. Vette is lighter, fresher, and far more immediately approachable — a glimpse of another side of the estate's range, and well worth knowing about.
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