The 2006 San Leonardo boasts striking inner perfume, great purity and fabulous overall balance. A large, broad-shouldered red, the 2006 shows off layers of expressive dark fruit, grilled herbs, licorice and new leather, all supported by firm yet well-integrated tannins. The 2006 is impressive today, but it is built to last for decades. The flagship San Leonardo is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot aged in French oak barrels.

The 2006 San Leonardo is a masterpiece in the making. This is a dark, alluring and seductive vintage, richly displaying crushed black cherry and plum, offset by exotic sweet spices, tobacco and dried florals. It's textural depths tempt the imagination, giving way to ripe blackberries with a subtle citrus twang, complemented by stimulating minerality and juicy acids. An air of savory herbs develops over a coating of fine tannin. The long, and I mean long finale, balances youthful structure with persistent inner perfumes and primary fruit. The 2006 is like a well-muscled stallion. While still very early in its evolution, there’s no harm in checking on it now, but the best is yet to come.

Bright deep ruby. Pure, complex nose offers blackcurrant, sassafras, cedar and smoke. Dense, suave and precise on the palate, with graphite and cedar notes complicating brooding blackberry and blackcurrant flavors. Finishes very long and pure, with hints of underbrush and minerals. This excellent wine will only improve with time in bottle. To my taste, this is one of the very best San Leonardo wines made since the 1990, and much better than anything made here since the 2001. San Leonardo was for a long time Trentino's most famous name, especially when Giacomo Tachis of Sassicaia fame was at the winemaking helm (look for the '85, '88 and'90), but the vineyards are in a cool part of the region where the grapes sometimes struggle to ripen.