Mazzei Siepi 2020 vs Tenuta San Leonardo, San Leonardo 2014
Compare current tracked prices, stockists and core specifications. Mazzei Siepi 2020 currently starts £0.60 lower.
| Availability | In stock | In stock |
|---|---|---|
| Best current price | £74.00 | £74.60 |
| Current stockists | 2 merchants | 1 merchant |
| Producer | Mazzei | Tenuta San Leonardo |
| Style | Red | Red |
| Grape | Merlot, Sangiovese | Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Size | 750ml | 750ml |
| Where to buy |
Mazzei Siepi 2020
Just south of Castellina in Chianti, the Fonterutoli estate looks out across the Val d’Elsa from one of the most historic corners of Chianti Classico. Owned by the Mazzei family since 1435, it still feels like a peaceful country hamlet: old stone houses clustered together, the church of San Miniato, and a sixteenth-century villa standing where the medieval castle once was. Today the estate spans 117 hectares of vines, mostly Sangiovese alongside Merlot, Colorino, Malvasia Nera and Cabernet Sauvignon. Its gravity-fed cellar, designed by architect Agnesi Mazzei, is considered one of the region’s most striking and environmentally thoughtful wineries. Vineyards Siepi comes from a six-hectare vineyard sitting at 260 metres above sea level, facing south and southwest. The soils are predominantly Alberese, and the vines range from thirteen to twenty-six years of age. Both spur-cordon and Guyot systems are used, with high-density plantings that enhance concentration and structure. Its plateau position allows for full sunlight from dawn to dusk, while an encircling oak forest moderates temperatures and creates a pronounced diurnal shift. This microclimate, both bright and sheltered, is fundamental to Siepi’s identity. Winemaking The Merlot was hand-picked on 5 September and the Sangiovese on 17 September. Fermentation took place at 26–28°C in stainless steel, with macerations lasting fourteen days for Merlot and eighteen for Sangiovese. Ageing was carried out for eighteen months in French oak, with Merlot in barriques and Sangiovese in tonneaux, seventy percent of which were new. The blend then rested for three months in concrete before bottling in June 2024, giving time for the components to integrate with purity and finesse. Vintage Information The 2022 season began with a mild, dry winter followed by a warm spring that drove steady, uniform growth. Budbreak arrived around 10 April, with slight variations between parcels, and flowering took place on 16 May. Dry, hot condit
Tenuta San Leonardo, San Leonardo 2014
After banging the drum for the Guerrieri Gonzaga family’s remarkable (and remarkably consistent) Cabernet Sauvignon-based blend for the last fifteen years, we relish each new endorsement and instance of critical appreciation and Jancis’ is the just the latest in a long line of articles from major critics. As a reminder... The wines of San Leonardo are more akin to Bordeaux than Bolgheri with their balance and purity and (said the late and greatly respected Italian specialist Nicolas Belfrage) " can have an elegance-cum-depth capable of taking on the best clarets of the world ". Jancis clearly agrees, noting latterly the wine’s “ astoundingly consistent quality ” and how each vintage is “ beautifully low-key and like the most refined red bordeaux imaginable ”, determining it is " Surely the most successful Bordeaux blend of Northern Italy ”. The Wine Advocate’s Monica Larner calls it “ … one of the great wines of Italy… Sassicaia and San Leonardo seem like brothers separated in childhood ” after James Suckling had previously made the comparison referring to San Leonardo as “ The Sassicaia of the North ”. The comparison is more than skin deep as San Leonardo’s owner Marchese Carlo Guerrieri Gonzaga, a rare example (at the time) of a professionally-trained aristocrat-oenologist, spent time at Tenuta San Guido back in the 1960s helping create Sassicaia with legendary consultant, Giacomo Tachis, whom he subsequently employed at his own estate. The estate has received the top ‘Tre Bicchiere’ rating from Gambero Rosso for an unprecedented seventeen vintages, and has twice been voted by aggregate Italy’s top wine release of the year (jointly with Sassicaia, to continue the comparison). Antonio Galloni weighs in saying “ The Guerrieri Gonzaga’s are one of the great families of Italian wine. Over the years, the Guerrieri Gonzaga’s have produced a number of stellar Bordeaux-influenced reds at San Leonardo, many of which I have had the privilege to taste. ” Meanwhile his collea
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