Tenuta San Guido is named after Saint Guido della Gherardesca who lived during the XI century. It lies within sight of the Mediterranean Sea near Grosseto in Maremma, and stretches for 13 kilometers from the sea to the gently rolling inland hills.
The estate has its roots in three historical, defining characteristics: Sassicaia, the wine first granted its own DOC, the Razza Dormello-Olgiata thoroughbred stud farm and the Italian National Bird Sanctuary Padule di Bolgheri. Many estates in Maremma share the wild nature of the Tuscan coast. Castello del Terriccio also is a current working horse farm. Cowboys, horses and wine; the untamed nature of the Tuscan coast.
The wedding of Mario Incisa della Rocchetta and Clarice della Gherardesca in 1930, started it all. They shared a love for thoroughbred horses that made them form a partnership while Mario’s love for good wine made him plant Cabernet vines in 1942 for what was to become Sassicaia, unofficially, in 1968. Today the estate is planted to 90 hectares of vines that lie approximately 200-300 meters above sea level. In this article, we’re looking at one of the estate’s most recent releases.
~ The Tower on the Estate lends itself to the label of Guido Alberto ~
Way back in 2013 I reviewed the release of the 2010 Guid Alberto; a wine I thought had a chance to be great given the excellence of the vintage. I was largely disappointed and wrote at the time, “Why can’t you be more like your big brother?”
I’m not sure what 5 years has gotten us. Another excellent vintage. A chance for redemption. And so again, we sat down with Guido Alberto. The 2015 Tenuta San Guido Guid Alberto is the estate’s second wine. Unlike Sassicaia, it relies on a large portion of Merlot in the blend in an effort to make the wine more approachable at a younger age. The 2015 is 60% Cabernet and 40% Merlot and spent 15 months in a combination of French and American oak barrique after being vinified in stainless steel. Up to 6 months bottle aging is completed before release.
The 2015 is a deep violet color throughout with hardly any fading near the rim; very attractive to look at. Given the young age of the wine, we decanted the bottle for an hour before dinner. On the nose, the wine shows currant, bell pepper, plum and wood aromas that are young and linear at this point. On the palate, the wine is dominated by the Cabernet. I had hoped for some forwardness and plushiness from the Merlot in the blend and maybe that will emerge with cellaring, but it’s nowhere to be found at the moment. Flavors of red plum, new wood, cedar and hints of mineral are present on the palate. The finish is fairly long but tinged with “wet oak” and tannins that clamp down noticeably, especially without food. I just can’t get excited about this wine. We served this alongside grilled NY strip steaks, baked potatoes with rosemary and broccoli rabe. 86 points, about $40. Find this wine.
~ Guid Alberto is well made and the lineage is there, but this wine has a way to go before it becomes a dynamic value ~
Salute!
Hi John! Given the reputation of this estate and the hype of the 2015 vintage, I’m really surprised of how this is showing… I too wanted to try this one and bought my very first bottle a few weeks ago. Would you recommend medium to long term cellaring given your experience with this? I don’t know if you had but I had (very few) similar experiences with Barolos that I feel to have opened too soon as they tasted kind of « backwards ».. Thx in advance for your advice always appreciated 🙂
Raph,
If I had another bottle of this I think I’d wait at least 5 years to see if the oak integrates and the Merlot starts to show up more in the palate. This was just…..good,regular wine. Does that make sense? It wasn’t bad, but many Chianti Classico have more character in release at half the price. Maybe if it weren’t from such an iconic estate I’d feel differently. If you have more than 1 and want to check in on it, then I’d give it 2+ hours in a decanter.
The thing that gets me with this wine, is that of the two stated goals from the estate for this wine, number one was “early drinkability”. Well, I don’t see it.
Hi John,
In my personal opinion, Guidalberto indeed is best drunk starting around 7 years after the vintage (and up to 10 years after, to be on the safe side of not catching it going down the hill).
But yes, this is not necessarely what one calls in general “early drinkability” (it is compared to Sassicaia 🙂 ).
I haven’t tried the 2015 yet (but I also have it in the scellar), but I do share your opinion on the 2010. I tried the 2010 a few months ago and to me it still seemed not ready (will it ever be?). Other, riper vintages such as the 2007 or the 2009 on the other hand provided lots more drinking pleasure. They were also more forward with plush fruit.
Maybe that’s the trick with Guidalberto: try it in warmer, riper vintages, as the more balanced/classic years do not really lend them to the style of the wine? In those balanced years, the ‘great vintages’, it seems to me the wine is neither fish nor fowl, as the vintage is somehow counteracting the essence of the fruit (I don’t know if that makes sense 🙂 ?).
To be frank, I’m also moving on from Guidalberto. I’ve had my share of it and I believe one can indeed find more interesting bottles at (more or less) the same price point (some bordeaux beld examples include the wines of Sapaio – thanks for the tip btw 😉 or Caiarossa, il Pino di Biserno, Nambrot di Ghizzano, Sondraia or the wines of Monteti to name a few).
Best regards,
Steven,
Yes, you raise lots of good points and suggestions for alternatives including “lesser” Bordeaux such as Clerc Milon or Ducru’s 3rd label. Yes, the Sapaio wines are better and recently I found a 3 case stash of 2009 Il Pino di Biserno that is drinking like a dream. $38. You may be right on the vintage generalization. It’s so hard to tell with such limited samples. There are big differences even between say wines from Grosseto and wines from Castagneto Carducci. Throw in the variety of grapes that can be used and well, you see the problem. At any rate, I’ll likely move on from Guido too.
As you wrote, Guidalberto is a good wine, and that’s fine. In my opinion, it all comes down to the value: I think for the price of Guidalberto, there are many better alternatives…not to talk about the estate third wine, Difese, which has been a bit disappointing too over the recent vintages.
Agreed. Le Difese was completley unimpressive when I tasted it at the recent Kobrand portfolio tasting. Stephen raised many good alternatives to GuidAlberto above. Value is huge. And in Maremma, it’s pretty easy to find.
Pierre…+ 1
You can drink neighbor wines…Ferruggini or Felciaino by Chiappini …which are excellent…for half cost..????