Until 1500, no one had ever written about viticulture and oenology with such technical competence, precision and care as Leonardo da Vinci. This man of universal genius and talent was indeed a true pioneer in oenological matters; it can be said that, even in the field of oenology, Leonardo was so innovative that he was not understood by his contemporaries. Let us see why.
After more than five centuries, esteemed Leonardo scholars such as Prof. Luca Maroni and Prof. Alessandro Vezzosi have recovered remarkable discoveries and extraordinary qualitative observations contained in a celebrated letter dated 1515 sent by Leonardo to his steward, the estate manager Zanobi Boni in Fiesole (the document was published in the volume “The life of Leonardo da Vinci” by John William Brown, published in London in 1828).
In this missive, the Master on the one hand complains of the quality of the wine received, writing: “the last four carafes were not according to my expectations and I was greatly displeased”; on the other hand, he provides precise technical guidance to his own enologist, which not only reveals all of Leonardo’s passion for wine, but above all the modernity of his insights.
From Milan to Zanobi Boni, my Estate Manager
The 9th of December, 1515
“The last four carafes of wine were not as I expected and I was very sorry. The vines of Fiesole, cultivated in a better way, should give Italy an excellent wine, like that of Ser Ottaviano. You know that I have already said that the vineyard rows should be fertilised with rubble from demolished old walls which dry out the roots and stems, thus the leaves attract all the substances useful to the perfection of the bunch. Moreover, in our days we do the worst thing: we ferment the wine in open vessels and so the essence disperses into the air and nothing remains but a liquid without flavour coloured by the skins and pulp; and then the racking is not done properly and for this reason a wine comes out that is cloudy and heavy on the stomach. So if you and others followed these reasonings we would drink an excellent wine. May the Lord accompany us and keep you well.”
Leonardo da Vinci
It is without doubt the first wine-making text with technical content still relevant today, aimed at optimising the cultivation of the grape and its transformation. From this point, Leonardo da Vinci Spa started the recovery of scientific research in a technical and cultural project to rediscover Leonardo’s wine-making method and its reuse to produce today the excellent wines that Leonardo aspired to.
The Leonardo® Method is an in-depth research work that draws inspiration precisely from Leonardo’s studies on enology. Leonardo intuited the way to obtain quality wines through meticulous observation of all the natural phenomena that lead to the full ripening of the grape fruit and through the invention of tools and techniques to optimise the transformation of the grape into wine.
The Leonardo® Method therefore represents the formalisation of a production protocol – exclusive and reserved – used for the wines of all the Leonardo da Vinci collections. It defines in detail specific quantitative-qualitative parameters that wines inspired by the Genius must respect in order to fall within the productions branded Leonardo da Vinci and have the words “Leonardo® Method” on the label. It is not a static and definitive viticultural and enological treatise: consistently with Leonardo’s creative and visionary approach, who would have continued his research and intuited further developments, the Method is in continuous evolution and perfection thanks to the dedication and expertise of our company’s wine makers.
Here is a summary of the specific production protocols of each of the main stages of obtaining a wine through the Leonardo® Method:
For each of the production phases mentioned above, our company has developed its own know-how and has refined proprietary, exclusive and reserved techniques, products and procedures. Periodically, our experts who are keepers of the Leonardo® Method train technicians and agronomists so that they implement the instructions to produce excellent wines.
Furthermore, every year a document is drawn up (a sort of vademecum) that contains the technical guidance to be followed and defines the guidelines for continuous monitoring of all the phases of winemaking, from the vineyard to the moment of bottling, to ensure the high qualitative level of the final product.
In this sense, the Leonardo® Method acts as a guarantor of the quality of Leonardo da Vinci wines from its origin, guaranteeing the end consumer a product of Italian excellence.
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