Le Difese Tenuta San Guido 2024

Le Difese, Tenuta San Guido, IGT Toscana, Tuscany, Italy, 2024

Grapes: 75% Sangiovese & 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 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

Critics' Tasting Notes:

Full bottle 1,184 g. Sangiovese and Cabernet aged briefly in used Guidalberto barriques, mainly French. pH 3.5, TA 5.86 g/l.

"Pale garnet with a very pale rim. Light nose but surprisingly fruity impact on the palate. What you might call ‘a real drinking wine’! Lots of fruity charm followed by the tang of Sangiovese. This is not a wine for the cellar but it should give lots of short-term pleasure. And it’s even quite persistent. Well done! GV"  Drink 2026-2029

16.5/20 points, Jancis Robinson, JancisRobinson.com, March 2026

"The 2024 Le Difese is a very pleasant, midweight red to drink now and over the next few years. Crushed red flowers, red berry fruit, mint, chalk, white pepper and blood orange are very nicely lifted. Le Difese is quite attractive, a success in a year marked by persistent rain all the way through to and during harvest."  Drink 2026-2030

89/100 points, Antonio Galloni, Vinous, April 2026

"The 2024 Le Difese is a blend of 75% Sangiovese and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and reveals a cool, dark fruited, broody aromatics with a delicately seductive perfume of violets, cherry blossom, black currants, and damson plum with a subtle dusting of vanilla pod spice and aniseed root. The palate is crystalline and pure, fine boned, fresh, and supple with sleek sinewy red berry fruits, red cherry, cranberry and Victoria plum. The acids are linear and bright, the tannins silky soft and pinpoint with a delicate mineral grip on the finish. Once again, almost more Pinot Noir in character and elegance but incredibly seductive."  Drink now to 2034+

92/100 points, Greg Sherwood MW (South Africa), February 2026

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