2023 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 pronounced predilection for fine Bordeaux wines. After moving to their estate in Tenuta San Guido on the Mediterranean coast with his wife, Clarice, he experimented with different French grape varieties. His conclusion was unequivocal: 'the bouquet I was looking for', I found in the Cabernet. A wine with Cabernet Sauvignon as its main component meant a radical change from the traditional Tuscan and Piedmontese Sangiovese and Nebbiolo varieties. No one had ever considered making a wine on Italian soil according to the Bordeaux approach, and certainly not in an area that had (so far) no foothold in the wine universe.

Apart from the bouquet of the Cabernet Sauvignon, the decision to plant the vine 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 the Tuscan dialect, thus owes its name to the soil conditions of Tenuta San Guido. A small number of cases were stored in the cellars of Castiglioncello each year. 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, what was initially considered a defect eventually turns out to be one of the great qualities with the passing of time. His friends and family soon urged him to persevere in his passion and to 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 of all of Italy. Together with Ornellaia from Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, it is the most sought-after wine of Tuscany! A striking 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 (!) In the meantime, world famous, Tenuta San Guido is now part of the group 'Primum Familiae Vini', which stands for 'the best wine families'. Other members include Bodegas y Viñedos Vega-Sicilia, Antinori, Château Mouton-Rothschild and Perrin & Fils from 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 ensured that the town of Bolgheri has become so famous. The grapes are picked by hand and carefully sorted. After the harvest, the first fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats, whereby the grape skins remain in the must. The wine matures in these stainless steel vats 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 tones of blueberries and blackberries followed by cherries and cranberries. The Le Difese (Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese) is a smooth and modern wine with beautiful fruit aromas of blueberries and cherries supported by Mediterranean herbs. This medium bodied wine has a good balance between fruit and acids and is silky smooth with a long aftertaste/feeling of freshness which keeps the wine nicely lively in the mouth and is gastronomically a great wine with pasta dishes or a good (homemade) pizza.

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