2009 Tenuta San Guido Le Difese Toscana IGT- Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT (1/23/2012)
I continue to be amazed by this wine. It delivers an incredible amount of flavor and complexity, especially considering the price. Dark cherry and chocolate with some dried herbs, earth, and that tell-tale Italian funk (in a good way). It’s juicy and plump right out of the bottle (no decanting needed although air helps a little over time), but it’s far from flabby. Lots of freshness and even structure in this bottling. One ofmy favorite wines to open on a weeknight right now.
We had a couple Cantonese clay pots last night (cod & tofu, seabass & eggplant) along with a bottle of the 2012 La Difese. I found it to be a light/medium bodied wine, that felt more sangiovese driven, than a blend with some sangio in it. It’s on the crisp, red fruit side of the scale, which is ok since our dinner needed something acidic to go with it. It’s straight forward, and if its coming from a heralded producer, its not obvious from what’s in the glass. It’s enjoyable, and functional, but I wouldn’t bother getting it again. It seems like something that restaurants would sell, harping on the connection to Sassicaia. I’d give it a B, and would rather just get Selvapiana’s normale Chianti for less money.