A forgotten story links Leonardo da Vinci to the city of Milan: the story of the Leonardo’s Vineyard. The vineyard that in 1498 Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, gifted to Leonardo and which, at last, is reborn today—faithfully respecting the original rows and grape variety.
From the Florence of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Leonardo da Vinci arrived in Milan, at the court of Ludovico Maria Sforza known as il Moro. It was Ludovico who, in 1495, commissioned him to paint the Last Supper in the refectory of the Dominican friars, and who in 1498 granted Leonardo ownership of a vineyard of about 16 pertiche (roughly one hectare of land). At the end of a workday on the Last Supper, Leonardo would cross the Borgo delle Grazie and the Casa degli Atellani to walk among the rows of his vineyard. In April 1500, the troops of the King of France defeated and imprisoned il Moro, and Leonardo too left Milan. However, he never ceased to care about his vineyard, even from afar: he reclaimed it after the French confiscated it, and on his deathbed in 1519, he mentioned it in his will, leaving part of it to his favorite pupil, Gian Giacomo Caprotti, known as Salaì.
In the shadow of the dome of Santa Maria delle Grazie, in the very heart of the Borgo dreamed by il Moro for his court, Leonardo’s Vineyard flourishes once again thanks to the Portaluppi Foundation and the current owners of the Casa degli Atellani, with the scientific support of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Milan. Excavations at the site identified by Luca Beltrami revealed rows of vines still existing a century ago; through scientific studies conducted by geneticist Serena Imazio and Professor Attilio Scienza, leading expert in grapevine DNA, the grape variety grown during the Renaissance was identified. At the back of the garden of the Casa degli Atellani, Leonardo da Vinci cultivated Malvasia di Candia Aromatica. Following in Leonardo’s footsteps, on the very site of his vineyard, in 2015 University experts replanted Malvasia cuttings. These vines have now borne their first golden fruits. In September 2018, the first harvest took place. Over 250 kilograms of Malvasia grapes were collected and fermented on their skins inside an ancient terracotta amphora, following a traditional winemaking process curated in Lomellina, historic land of the Sforza family. Five centuries after Leonardo’s death, the first bottles of Leonardo’s Wine—grown in the beloved vineyard gifted to him by il Moro—are now ready to be uncorked.