Tenuta San Guido Le Difese

Le Difese is the third wine of Tenuta San Guido, the Bolgheri estate where Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted Cabernet Sauvignon in 1944 — two decades before the practice was fashionable in Tuscany — and where the Super Tuscan movement was effectively born. That founding ambition filters down into Le Difese, a Cabernet Sauvignon–Sangiovese blend carrying genuine estate DNA at an accessible tier.

The vines draw from Bolgheri's characteristically complex soils: calcareous marl, gabbro, alberese, and old alluvial pebbles across plots ranging from 60 to 400 m a.s.l., moderated by Tyrrhenian Sea breezes channelled through the Bibbona–Castagneto amphitheatre. The maritime influence suppresses heat accumulation, preserving the aromatic lift and structural acidity that define the house style.

Fermentation proceeds in temperature-controlled stainless steel at ≤28–29°C with estate-selected indigenous yeasts; malolactic fermentation is spontaneous. Oak aging follows in French barriques (Tronçais, Allier, Jupilles; light toast, long-seasoned staves), with a split across new, first-fill, and second-fill casks — a regime scaled from Sassicaia's own barrel program.

The special feature: blending Cabernet Sauvignon with Sangiovese rather than Merlot is a deliberate departure from Bolgheri convention, threading Tuscan identity — dried cherry, iron-tinged acidity — through a coastal-Bordeaux framework. The 2022 vintage has no estate-specific notes in the brand library; drink from release through 2028–2030.