Tenuta San Guido Le Difese Toscana 2016
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
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Robert
Parker -
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Spectator
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Pair with grilled steak or steak salad, hamburgers and other casual but flavorful beef dishes. Has good acidity to compliment marinara and bolognese sauces.
Blend: 70 % Cabernet Sauvignon 30 % Sangiovese
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very aromatic and bright with strawberry, cherry and currant character. Hints of oranges. Full-bodied, linear and tight, showing ultra-fine tannins. Potential here.
Range: 92-93 -
Wine Enthusiast
Made with 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese, this offers enticing aromas of black-skinned berry, iris and cedar. The savory, balanced palate delivers red currant, dried black cherry, star anise and white pepper alongside finegrained tannins. Drink through 2023.
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Wine & Spirits
The long, moderate 2016 growing season produced a voluptuous Guidalberto, with velvety tannins and juicy red and black berry flavors. It has no hard edges at all, just ripe fruit flavors and warm earthy tones that emanate an inner energy and freshness. Layered and complex already, this wine has a long life ahead.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese, the 2016 Le Difese shows a more evident touch of ripe fruit that you don't perceive in the Guidalberto, which makes me think it comes from the Sangiovese component that is only used in this wine. The overall effect of that ripeness is that it downplays the wine's inner complexity. But this entry-level red from Tenuta San Guido was never aiming for huge complexity to begin with. Dark cherry and cherry is followed by wild strawberry and tangy rose hip. This wine happily delivers on its promises of freshness and accessibility.
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Wine Spectator
A fresh, vibrant version, offering cherry, strawberry, spice and mineral flavors. Youthful, with assertive tannins, so decant or age short term
Other Vintages
2021- Decanter
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James
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James
Suckling -
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James
Suckling -
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James
Suckling -
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Enthusiast -
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The Tenuta San Guido is a 7,500-acre estate located in the province of Livorno on the western coastal outskirts of Tuscany near the village of Bolgheri. Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta acquired it through his marriage to Clarice della Gherardesca in 1940.
The legacy of Sassicaia began in 1944, when Mario Incisa acquired a number of Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc vine cuttings and planted them on a sloping hillside of the San Guido estate, called Castiglioncello after the 11th-century castle at the vineyard's upper edge. This tiny, 3.75-acre vineyard stood alone until 1965, when a second Cabernet vineyard was planted with cuttings from the Castiglioncello parcel; the gravelly, 30-acre plot would give the wine its name: Sassicaia, "the place of many stones".
With the radical changes in the D.O.C. system of regulations as of the 1994 vintage, Sassicaia's extraordinary reputation was acknowledged through the Italian government's granting the wine its own appellation.
Sassicaia is today considered to be the new plus ultra of Italy's great red wines for its consistent excellence and its intuitive spirit. Acclaimed by the wine world's most respected voices, Sassicaia remains the legacy of its creator, Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, and his son, Marchese Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta.
Legendary in Italy for its Renaissance art and striking landscape, Tuscany is also home to many of the country’s best red wines. Sangiovese reigns supreme here, as either the single varietal, or a dominant player, in almost all of Tuscany’s best.
A remarkable Chianti, named for its region of origin, will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and plenty of cherry fruit character. From the hills and valleys surrounding the medieval village of Montalcino, come the distinguished and age-worthy wines based on Brunello (Sangiovese). Earning global acclaim since the 1970s, the Tuscan Blends are composed solely of international grape varieties or a mix of international and Sangiovese. The wine called Vine Nobile di Montepulciano, composed of Prognolo Gentile (Sangiovese) and is recognized both for finesse and power.