2022 Tenuta San Guido Le Difese

In the 1920s, as a student in Pisa, Marquis Mario Incisa della Rocchetta already dreamed of creating a 'noble' wine. Like most Italian aristocrats of that time, he had a distinct preference for fine Bordeaux wines. After moving with his wife, Clarice, into their domain in Tenuta San Guido on the Mediterranean, he experimented with different French grape varieties. His conclusion was clear: 'I found the bouquet I was looking for' in the Cabernet. A wine with Cabernet Sauvignon as the main component represented a radical change from the traditional Tuscan and Piedmontese Sangiovese and Nebbiolo varieties. No one had ever considered preparing a wine according to the Bordeaux approach on Italian soil, and certainly not in an area that had (so far) no foothold within the wine universe.

Apart from the bouquet of the Cabernet Sauvignon, the decision to plant the vine variety at Tenuta San Guido was influenced by the strong similarities between the Tuscan village and the Graves region in Bordeaux. 'Graves' is the French word for 'gravel'. Sassicaia, which means 'stone-strewn ground' in Tuscan dialect, thus owes its name to the soil conditions of Tenuta San Guido. Every year a small number of caskets were kept in the cellars of Castiglioncello. The Marquis discovered that as the years passed, the quality of the wine improved rapidly. As is often the case with wines of great provenance, with the passage of time what was initially considered a defect ultimately turns out to be one of the great qualities. Soon, his friends and relatives urged him to persevere in his passion and further perfect this revolutionary style of winemaking. In 1965 he planted two additional vineyards with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Today, Sassicaia is known as one of the most prominent red wines in all of Italy. Together with Ornellaia from Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, it is the most sought-after wine in Tuscany! An interesting detail is the fact that part of the vineyards of Tenuta dell'Ornellaia come from Tenuta San Guido. Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, once founded by Ludovico Antinori (the brother of Piero Antinori and both cousins of Mario Incisa della Rocchetta), bought its first vineyards from the Marquis (!) Now world famous, Tenuta San Guido is now part of the 'Primum' group Familiae Vini', which stands for 'the best wine families'. Other members include Bodegas y Viñedos Vega-Sicilia, Antinori, Château Mouton-Rothschild and Perrin & Fils of Château de Beaucastel.

The Le Difese from Tenuta San Guido is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese. The vineyards of Le Difese are located in the Maremma, between Cecina and Bolgheri, near the Mediterranean Sea. Tehuta San Guido has made the town of Bolgheri so famous. The grapes are picked manually and carefully sorted. After picking, the first fermentation takes place in stainless steel barrels, where the grape skins remain in the must. The wine is aged in these stainless steel barrels for a period of 12 months. The wine then matures further in French and American oak barriques for a period of 12 months before being bottled. The wine has a beautiful garnet-red color and is medium bodied. The Le Difese has beautiful notes of blueberry and blackberry followed by cherry and cranberry. The Le Difese (Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese) is a smooth and modern wine with beautiful fruit scents of blueberries and cherries supported by Mediterranean herbs. This medium bodied wine has a good balance between fruit and acidity and is silky soft with a long aftertaste/sense of freshness which keeps the wine nice and lively in the mouth and is a great gastronomic wine with pasta dishes or a good (homemade) pizza.

FACT: The wine is in our conditioned Wine Warehouse and if you pick up the wine you will often receive a nice discount . You will see your discount immediately when you choose 'Collect' on the checkout page. We are located in Dordrecht almost next to the A16 with plenty of parking. Click here for our address.