Leonardo was a brilliant artist, engineer, scientist, inventor, designer, architect, but not everyone is aware of the fact that he was also, an expert vigneron, was fond of viticulture and he loved good drink. As a genius in this sector as well, he anticipated modern winemaking methods by 500 years, showing something extra, as in everything he did.
It is early, privileged lucky few, will be admitted to an extraordinary experience: they will be able to taste the very wine that Leonardo produced for himself, 5 centuries after the first planting of his vineyard in Milan.
But how was it possible to produce Leonardo's wine today? It all starts with the discovery, a few years ago, of a plot of land belonging to Leonardo's family, in Milan, where he himself studied and experimented with the first winemaking techniques. And it will soon be possible to literally enjoy the fruits of this vineyard. Because thanks to Luca Maroni, one of the leading Italian wine experts and scholars, the University of Milan and prof. Attilio Scienza, undisputed authority in the field of international viticulture, an excavation campaign was launched which led to the identification of ancient vine roots buried for centuries from which it was possible to trace Leonardo's favorite vine, re-plant the vines that were harvested in September and now the wine is almost ready to be drunk. The discovery of the ancient vineyard in 1999
The discovery of the vineyard (the only walkable property left in the world attributable with certainty to Leonardo), it happened in 1999 in a small green space of the House of the Atellani, after that Luca Maroni, he had meticulously studied a file containing a collection of excerpts from Leonardo's writings.
The vineyard donated to the artist by Ludovico il Moro for the services received
In these writings there was talk of a vineyard in Milan donated to the artist by Ludovico il Moro, as a partial reward for a job done in his services. Maroni began to study all the most important documents on Leonardo, deepening more and more every aspect of his life and the steps that led to the acquisition of the vineyard, arriving to ascertain that this donation by Ludovico il Moro took place in correspondence with the conclusion of his greatest painting: the last supper. The land, in fact, is located a few meters as the crow flies from the room where the artist probably painted his famous fresco.
The land is the only property belonging to the Master and is explicitly mentioned in his will. The vineyard measured approximately 1 hectare, 15 perches and between quarters to use the unit of measurement of the time.
Once the ground in the garden of the Casa degli Atellani in Milan had been identified with certainty, excavations began. The path on the sides of which Leonardo's vineyard was planted was found intact, but above all it was necessary to find the roots of the vines, and to trace them it was necessary at the same time to find the intersection of the horizontal path with the vertical one.
Finally the searches gave encouraging results, the remains of ancient roots were entrusted for specific analyzes at CETAS, Center for Advanced Agricultural Technologies in Serra in Tavazzano Villavesco (LO), experimental section of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Milan. From there began the philological recovery of the vineyard, through theDNA analysis. To identify which were the vine varieties originally planted by Leonardo, the Professor Attilio Science, author of over three hundred scientific publications in international and national journals and conference proceedings and in national and international scientific manuals and monographs mainly dedicated to the vine and viticulture. DNA analysis was clear, the grape used by Leonardo was Malvasia di Candia Aromatica.
Then began gradually the replanting of the vineyard, which was found to have genotypic adherence to the original. Everything was taking shape. The vines were replanted, watered and celebrated with the Malvasia Dolce dei colli Piacentini, and shortly thereafter they began to grow again, right there, where about 500 years ago the agronomist and oenologist Leonardo had given life to his personal vineyard using the so known as the "Leonardo Method" which consisted in optimizing the quality of the grapes and the technique of its transformation, a unique method of its kind, especially for that era.
For Leonardo, wine elevated the soul towards the brain
The story that precedes the planting of the vineyard in Milan is also very interesting. Leonardo appreciated wine. In his writings of him, he pays flattering attention to him: "the goblet of wine raised his soul towards the celabro" (brain). The Master recognizes that wine has a spiritual, nutritional and sensory role that accompanies him every day in all his extraordinary works. In his numerous writings he defines it as "divine liqueur of grapes", he loves wine, son of nature, which he venerates more than anything else.
Leonardo's passion for the world of wine probably dates back to his youth, when he spent a lot of time admiring the landscape and the countryside of Vinci, suited to viticulture since his time. In fact, they are located in the center of the slopes of the western side of Montalbano and oriented towards the Tyrrhenian coast, with full sun exposure from the south/south-west. The height above sea level is about 100 meters and the distance as the crow flies, about 50km. A perfect position that generates and favors the circulation of fresh and temperate air, which protects from frost and favors the health and ripening of the grapes, in short, an area with unique climatic characteristics.
Not only an artist but he anticipated wine processing methods by 500 years
There is a fundamental stage in the relationship between Leonardo and wine. Precisely during one of his trips to Emilia Romagna, he had the opportunity to investigate different aspects of enology, and to compare the Sangiovese wines of the hills of Florence with the wines then produced in Romagna. In particular here Leonardo is struck by the different system of hanging the grapes which allows the drying of the bunches and which he will later depict with a sketch, the only one in this regard.
Finally, there is also a Leonardo the taster, who describes sensory emotions in his writings let him out of the wine immediately after tasting it. In short, the artist was also a pioneer in this sector, detailing 500 years in advance how to raise the vine, how to ferment the must in closed barrels so as to avoid the oxidation of the aroma and at the same time suggesting to often and carefully decant the wine from vessel to vessel, so as not to keep it in contact with fermentation residues.
The discovery of Leonardo's vineyard could have important implications for the Italian wine world. In fact, it is to be hoped that it will open the doors to the exhumation of other historic vines, enhancing the autochthonous ones that would otherwise be lost and rediscovering their value.
Even if it is not possible to taste Leonardo's wine at the moment, those who are in Milan will be able to pass in front of the Casa degli Atellani, and scrutinizing the garden, glimpse the new and evocative vineyard, and imagine Leonardo in that place, 500 years ago, as he strolled in the garden and took care of his vines.
