Le Difese Tenuta San Guido 2023

Le Difese, Tenuta San Guido, IGT Toscana, Tuscany, Italy, 2023

Grapes: 35% Cabernet Sauvignon & 65% Sangiovese, hand picked, aged 8 months in mostly used French oak barrels and steel vats

Tenuta San Guido is most well known as the producer of "Sassicaia" in Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast. "Le Difese" is their third wine, which was first made in 2002. 

The nose of the 2023 Difese opens with fresh aromas of cherry blossom, cranberry and hedgerow fruit. A subtle note of cocoa and wild herbs mingles with the fruit and you feel the fine web of tannins clothing the fruit. A little more Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend this year (35%), there is a both charm and structure to the Difese this year.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"A tangy raspberry and pomegranate attack is followed by some ripe dark fruits wrapped in soft, open-knit tannins. Tenuta San Guido sources the Sangiovese for Le Difese from family friends in nearby Chianti Montespertoli and Chianti Rufina, but as a result of the widespread peronospora (downy mildew) in 2023, the percentage has dropped from 70% in 2022 to 65% in the 2023. It doesn't seem to have slowed its momentum, however, as it bristles with energy. Bright and well balanced, it's a delicious introduction to the estate" Drink 2025-2030

92/100 points, James Button, DECANTER, February 2025

"Onto 2023 Le Difese, a wine that has captured my heart of late. Made from 65% Sangiovese and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and weighing in at 13.5% alcohol, with some oak augmentation using old Guidalberto barrels, this is another cosmic release for this wine. Leave the anticipated release price aside for a moment and consider this wine in isolation, forgetting its parentage and hallowed turf. This beautiful, buoyant, highly attractive red wine balances enticing openness with formal build-quality under the bonnet. I know it is a baby, but you could conceivably down a bottle with steak frites without missing a beat, and yet I expect it to gather in kaleidoscopic appeal over the next 24 months. I adored last year’s 2022 vintage with its cool, calm, and collected attitude, knowing wink, and rakish appeal. But this 2023 is a phenomenon and the finest Le Difese I have ever tasted. I feel compelled to give it a gold medal score. It doesn’t matter that this wine is a ‘third tier release’ because its perfume, flavour and finish are simply stunning. So, it is with great pleasure that 2023 Le Difese gains a rare 18.5/20 score, and if this wine does not make it into my Finest Fifty 2025 round-up in late December, I will eat my capello."

18.5/20 points, Matthew Jukes, February 2025

Food Match: Try this wine with a wild boar ragu, Fiorentina steak, dry-cured ham and salami, or Pecorino cheese.