2010 San Leonardo

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Carmenère, 10% Merlot. Ageing ruby with notes of rust at the rim. Heady nose with lots of (very Cabernet) complexity. Pure cassis with dried-grass notes. Hugely appetising. (JR)

The 2010 San Leonardo shows a dark and earthy profile, displaying sweet plum and strawberry, with moist soil and mineral notes. Soft textures usher in fleshy ripe fruits over a core of streamlined acidity, while grippy tannins form up and clench the senses toward the close. It's structured and resonating on tension, with tart berries, a twang of citrus and hints of balsamic spice. The 2010 is slightly closed today and tightly wrapped up in its youthful state, making me think of a younger version of the 1999. In this vintage, the vineyards of San Leonardo received a large amount of rain from August through September. Harvest ended up taking place earlier than usual. That said, I don’t see any lack of concentration or freshness here; this wine simply needs more time to unwind. It hardly budged through the 48 hours that this bottle remained open.

Not always does a growing year with beautiful weather mean a quality harvest and not always does a rainy year result in a poor vintage. 2010 gave us a very wet August and September (334 mm) with few hours of sunshine, yet this did not undermine the quality of the grapes. The season started slightly late, with some delay in the flowering which started around 10 June, which then was followed without any particular issues by veraison of Merlot around 20 July. August and September were particularly rainy and resulted in an early harvest, which started with Merlot on 16 September and finished with Carmenère on 30 October. Half bottles 2,500; bottles: 48,314; magnums: 3,300; double magnums: 145; imperials: 40; salmanazars: 30; balthazars 12. The first vintage with more than 13% on the label. Very bright crimson with a hint of putty on the nose but then mellow, broad fruit on the palate. It really does taste of macerated stones. Still quite tight, it has quite a charge of still-perceptible tannins. Solid, clean and fresh with lots of taut energy. (JR)