Le Difese Tenuta San Guido 2016

Le Difese, also known as the third wine of Sassicaia, is a red wine made from cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese by the Italian winery Tenuta San Guido in Tuscany.

It is said to have been made for the wedding of Priscilla Incisa de Della Rocchetta, the founder's granddaughter. A very expressive red wine with a very marked acidity, born in one of the most prestigious wine-growing areas in the world.

The Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese give this red a slightly spicier nose and a more pronounced acidity on the palate.

Winery and Vineyards

Tenuta San Guido is a winery that from 1948 to 1967 produced only for the Incisa della Rocchetta family's own consumption. It all began with Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, a young student who had the dream of creating Bordeaux-style wines. Thus was born Sassicaia, a wine that comes from stony soils and that when it began to be marketed was such a success that the Tuscan region of Bolgueri began to be known as one of the best wine-growing places in the world.

The Tenuta San Guido Le Difese vineyards are located at an altitude between 100 and 300 metres above sea level and face south and southwest. The vines are planted on limestone soils rich in decomposed marl and clay, where conventional agriculture is practised. Cultivation is traditional, with a yield of 5,800 vines per hectare, and the grapes are harvested by hand.

In the winery, the Tenuta San Guido Le Difese grapes are carefully sorted on the sorting table. They are then destemmed and gently crushed and fermented at controlled temperatures and with indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. In this process, each variety separately undergoes a maceration with skins for 13 to 15 days for the Cabernet and 15 to 18 days for the Sangiovese. Finally, it is aged for 12 months in French and American oak barrels.