Cantine Leonardo da Vinci
Cantine Leonardo da Vinci's Tuscan red blends 90% Sangiovese with 10% Merlot: fresh cherry and raspberry over soft tannins and bright acidity, with a vanilla-spice edge from oak. A fruit-forward Toscana IGT for weeknight red meat and tomato pasta.
Drawn from the Enotria importer sheet and the consensus of 382 Vivino drinkers: a Tuscan Sangiovese-Merlot blend of fresh red cherry, plum and a vanilla-and-tobacco oak edge, soft-tannined and easy to drink.
Cantine Leonardo da Vinci builds the Brunito on 90% Sangiovese with 10% Merlot, and the perfume leads with fresh red cherry and raspberry, the notes Vivino drinkers flag most often across 382 ratings. Behind the fruit sits a lift of black pepper and sweet spice, with a vanilla edge picked up from time in oak.
Cherry
Plum
Raspberry
Strawberry
Tobacco
Oak
Black pepper
VanillaSangiovese and Merlot parcels are picked separately then crushed together and macerated on skins for 8 to 10 days, and the wine carries bright Tuscan acidity, total acidity 5.16 g/l at pH 3.62, over soft, rounded tannins. A touch of residual sugar at 7 g/l fills the middle with ripe plum and red cherry, while drinkers consistently note an oak, vanilla and tobacco layer rather than a firm, structural grip.
The close is medium in length, the Merlot-softened tannin and the wine's gentle 7 g/l sweetness leaving a smooth, gently spiced exit.
An accessible, fruit-forward Tuscan red from the entry of the Cantine Leonardo da Vinci range, a co-operative of around 200 growers founded at Vinci in 1961. Vivino's crowd settles it at a solid 4.0, and at roughly £14 it is built for early drinking with weeknight red meat and tomato-based dishes, not the cellar.
The 2023 is stocked at Great Wines Direct around £13.93 and at The Great Wine Co. around £15.00, with the 2024 vintage also listed. Enotria imports it for UK trade at a £10.62 list price, so retail sits at a typical entry-Tuscan markup.
Six quick reads on where this £14 Sangiovese-Merlot earns its place: strong for food, value and easy weeknight drinking, modest for cellaring and special occasions.
Bright Sangiovese acidity and soft tannin make it a flexible table red for tomato, red meat and cured-meat dishes.
Sub-£15, soft and fruit-forward: a genuine midweek red that needs no occasion or decanting.
Soft tannin, ripe fruit and a hint of sweetness make this a low-risk introduction to Tuscan Sangiovese.
At about £14 with a 4.0 Vivino average from 382 ratings, it over-delivers for an entry Toscana IGT.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our editorial methodology.
A compact view of what the Toscana denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
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Both current releases follow the same 90% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot recipe. Tuscany's 2023 was a cool, wet, low-yield season that favoured fresher, lighter reds, so treat both as young, fruit-led wines to enjoy now rather than hold.
The 2024 follows the same 90% Sangiovese, 10% Merlot recipe for near-term drinking. Approach it as a young, fruit-led Tuscan red to enjoy now rather than a wine to hold.
Tuscany's 2023 season was cool and wet with disease pressure and reduced yields, giving fresher, lighter-framed reds. In this early-drinking blend that shows as bright acidity and supple red-cherry fruit; best in its first few years.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Cantine Leonardo da Vinci is a Tuscan co-operative founded at Vinci in 1961, today drawing on around 200 grower-members. Brunito is a Toscana IGT, the flexible Super Tuscan category that lets Sangiovese be blended with Merlot outside DOC and DOCG rules.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Toscana is in the IGT tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Toscana falls within Tuscany , covering Tuscany.
Cantine Leonardo da Vinci is a 1961 co-operative of roughly 200 members, so shared vineyards and a large crush keep the Brunito near £14 rather than at single-estate prices.
As a Toscana IGT the wine carries no mandated oak or bottle-ageing, unlike Chianti Classico or Brunello, so little cellar-time cost is built into the £14 price.
Picking Sangiovese and Merlot separately then macerating 8 to 10 days adds handling over a single-variety tank wine, a modest lift on cost.
Drinkers consistently pick up oak, vanilla and tobacco, so an oak-influenced ageing stage adds cost the importer recoups in the £10.62 trade price.
UK excise duty is £2.67 a bottle for still wine to 15% ABV at 2026 rates, with 20% VAT on top, together a large slice of the £13.93 shelf price.
Shipping from Tuscany plus Enotria's UK import, warehousing and trade margin lift the £10.62 trade list to roughly £14 on the shelf.
Dishes that complement this wine
Bright acidity and gentle tannin steer this toward tomato-rich pasta, Tuscan grills and game, the pairings Enotria and Vivino drinkers both reach for. Spicy, chilli-heavy plates are the one combination to avoid.
Sangiovese keeps the acidity high, total acidity 5.16 g/l, so it cuts cleanly through tomato and the fat of melted cheese. That makes it a natural with baked, tomato-rich Italian classics.
Try with: Lasagna · Eggplant parmesan · Pizza Margherita · Pizza Diavola · More pairings →
Soft but present Sangiovese tannin binds to the protein and char of grilled red meat, while the bright acidity refreshes between bites. This is the wine's Tuscan home turf.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Brasato al Barolo · Cotoletta alla bolognese · More pairings →
The importer pours this with game, and the logic holds: red-fruit sweetness and a spiced lift balance the richness of venison or a long-cooked ragu, while acidity stops the dish feeling heavy.
Try with: Venison Stew · Ossobuco alla Milanese · Agnello Ragu Lucano · More pairings →
Ripe red fruit and a perfumed spice note echo the fennel and pepper of Tuscan cured meats, and the gentle tannin sits happily beside a wedge of aged Pecorino.
Try with: Finocchiona · Prosciutto Toscano · Salame Toscano · Pecorino Toscano
Medium body and modest tannin make this an easy match for lighter roasts. It has enough fruit to lift roast chicken or herby pork without overpowering the plate.
Try with: Roast chicken · Porchetta · Pork loin with sage
Only 7 g/l of residual sugar and a medium body mean searing chilli, from vindaloo to a fully loaded Diavola, overwhelms the fruit and makes the tannin taste hard. Reach for a chilled, off-dry Italian white or a frothy Lambrusco instead.
Skip with: Vindaloo · Sichuan hot pot · extra-hot Pizza Diavola · Pairing guide →
Peak around 2026. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
An early-drinking IGT with no ageing requirement and modest tannin; drink within a few years of release.
£13.93 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 7 Jun 2026, 15:21 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumIt is 90% Sangiovese with 10% Merlot. The Sangiovese gives the bright acidity and red-cherry fruit typical of Tuscany, while the Merlot rounds the tannins and adds a plummy softness.
Expect fresh red cherry, raspberry and plum with a vanilla, tobacco and spice edge from oak. It is medium-bodied and smooth, with soft tannins and a touch of residual sugar that makes it easy to drink.
Tomato-based pasta and pizza, Tuscan grilled meats like bistecca, and game such as venison are the natural matches. The bright acidity and gentle tannin also suit cured meats and aged Pecorino; avoid very spicy, chilli-heavy dishes.
Neither in the strict sense: it is a Toscana IGT. That is the flexible Tuscan category, often called Super Tuscan, that lets a producer blend Sangiovese with Merlot outside Chianti or Brunello rules.
Drink it now. This is an early-drinking style with no ageing requirement, so the 2023 and 2024 are best enjoyed within a few years of the vintage rather than cellared.
Around £14 a bottle. It is stocked in the UK at roughly £13.93 to £15.00, with Enotria importing it for trade at a £10.62 list price.
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