Guidalberto Tenuta San Guido 2023

Guidalberto Tenuta San Guido, Toscana IGT, Italy, 2023

Grapes: A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon with 40% Merlot, limestone/clay soil rich in marl & pebbles, hand harvested, aged 20-25 months in mostly French (40% new) and American oak

First produced in 2000, Tenuta San Guido's Bolgheri "Bordeaux blend" is made for drinking younger than Sassicaia, but still with the potential for long ageing. Embracing a younger style that seeks fragrance and sweetness on the palate, characteristics that Merlot can offer. It's a full-bodied wine with flavours of black plums, blackberries, ground cinnamon, juniper berries, sandalwood and dark chocolate. Velvety textured tannins, finishing dry. A food wine.

Producer Tasting Note:

"Guidalberto 2023 boasts a brilliant purple-red hue and a complex aromatic bouquet, with fresh notes of lavender, blackcurrant, thyme, and citrus hints of bergamot and blood orange. On the palate, it exhibits good freshness, balanced acidity, and salinity, enhancing its appeal and length. The tannins are well-integrated, leaving a clean and refined finish. It is a vertical, enveloping, and dense wine, with a subtle sweetness harmonising beautifully with the salinity of the finish. Already pleasant in its youth, it also possesses strong potential for medium-to-long-term bottle ageing." Carlo Paoli, Winemaker

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"The 2023 Guidalberto was tasted as a preview and was a preliminary blend of barrel samples prepared for this tasting by the winery team, led by Carlo Paoli. The second sample that was blended was pure and ripe, with detailed layers of youthful cherry liqueur, fresh herbs, and lavender perfume. The palate offers medium to full-bodied richness, with a supple and primary feel, though it starts to reveal its underlying refined structure. While this was an early preliminary look at what the wine could look like, I’m looking forward to next year’s tasting to see how it develops."

(92-94)/100 points, Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com, March 2025

"Guidalberto 2023 requires a little teasing from the glass. Closed and mineral, it unfurls with blackberry, blackcurrant, sweet cherry, spice, and earth. It offers a real brooding character, and with time, hints of leather and tobacco contrast with the succulent ripe fruit. But it's the tannins and grip on the palate that really sets this apart: whilst the fruit is plush and ripe, it has a core that's lithe and mineral: the hallmark Tenuta San Guido elegance. Carlo Paoli has crafted a particularly nuanced and striking Guidalberto this vintage. Finishing long and radiant, we are left assured that Guidalberto has never been so close in quality to Sassicaia, all whilst expressing its own terroir and character. A joy to taste now, but give this 3-5 years in the cellar to really come together." Armit Wines

The label depicts the Oratory of San Guido and the wine is named after the family ancestor Guidalberto della Gherardesca, an agricultural pioneer in the Bolgheri area.