Tenuta degli Dei · Panzano in Chianti
2022 Cavalli Tenuta degli Dei 'Le Redini' Toscana IGT Tuscany, Italy
A place on your wine list
A 90 percent Merlot from the Conca d'Oro, with 10 percent Alicante. Carlo Ferrini in the cellar. Galloni 95 on a 2022 you can put on the list.
Winery SRP $80 per bottle
Why this bottle belongs on the list
Two selling points.
Then the market.
Carlo Ferrini is Gambero Rosso's Winemaker of the Year.
Tommaso Cavalli asked Ferrini to walk the San Leolino ground in 2000. Ferrini, Gambero Rosso Winemaker of the Year in 2000 and Wine Enthusiast Winemaker of the Year in 2007, planted international grapes on galestro instead of defaulting to Sangiovese. Gioia Cresti runs the vines. The 2022 Le Redini is still that Ferrini house blend: Merlot for breadth, Alicante for Tuscan snap.
Panzano's golden valley. Thirty-five thousand bottles.
Le Redini is 90 percent Merlot and 10 percent Alicante from organic parcels in Panzano at 400 meters and Florence at 100 meters. Native yeast, at least three weeks of maceration, 14 months in barriques and tonneaux. About 35,000 bottles. This is the Merlot bottle of the house, not the Cabernet flagship Cavalli.
Professional scores
What the press wrote on this vintage.
Named critic scores on this exact 2022. Wine-Searcher aggregate 91 is a separate tile.
The buyer's perspective
What the guest
hears first.
Antonio Galloni (Vinous 95, July 2024) called the 2022 superb and one of the most distinctive wines being made in Tuscany: blackberry, gravel, crushed rocks, incense, licorice, mocha, bright acids in a hot year. Staff can sell it in one sentence: Cavalli's Panzano Merlot, Ferrini in the cellar, pour it with a short-rib ragu.
Proprietor's corner
San Leolino · Panzano · horses and wine
Tommaso
Cavalli
Roberto Cavalli bought the San Leolino property in the early 1970s as a Chianti refuge from Florence. He named it Tenuta degli Dei for his German shepherd, Didone degli Dei, so every horse born on the farm would carry that suffix. Roberto died on 12 April 2024. Tommaso has lived on the estate since 1989.
In 2000 Tommaso asked Carlo Ferrini to look at the soils. They planted Merlot, Cabernet, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Alicante on galestro at 400 meters, then added a Florence parcel on clay. The cellar sits inside the Pieve di San Leolino, a ninth-century Romanesque church.
The photograph on this page is Tommaso tasting from barrel. He still breeds trotting horses on the 70-hectare farm. Le Redini is the wine he pours when the table wants Merlot that still tastes like Panzano.
The estate
San Leolino, then the Conca d'Oro.
The cellar is inside the Pieve di San Leolino, a ninth-century Romanesque church above Panzano. Natural humidity and a stable temperature make it a quiet place for wood. The farm around it still breeds horses. Vineyards occupy a small share of the 70 hectares.
Panzano's south-facing parcel sits on galestro-rich ground at about 400 meters in the Conca d'Oro. The Florence parcel is lower, slightly clayey, at about 100 meters. Both are farmed organically. The 2022 Le Redini is fruit from those two sites, not a single-vineyard wine.
Native yeast, three weeks of maceration, malolactic in barrel, 14 months in barriques and tonneaux. Galloni noted used wood on this vintage. Serve it as the house Merlot, not as a trophy Super Tuscan.
2022 in the glass
Blackberry.
Crushed rock.
Licorice and mocha.
Antonio Galloni (Vinous 95, July 2024) wrote that the 2022 Le Redini is superb, deep and packed, with bright acids in a hot year: blackberry, gravel, crushed rocks, incense, licorice, and mocha. A dollop of Alicante in the blend works. Full-bodied, opulent, one of the most distinctive wines being made in Tuscany. James Suckling (91, July 2024) found roses, violets, black cherries, and chalky tannin that still wants a year or two. Wine Advocate (91, July 2024) noted dusty tannin and dried currant. The blend is 90 percent Merlot and 10 percent Alicante. Decant 45 to 60 minutes.
Menu and service
Built for a serious table.
- Short-rib ragu with pappardelle
- Duck ragu with wide pasta
- Rosemary and garlic lamb chops
Decant 45 to 60 minutes. Serve around 60 to 64 F in a generous red stem.
Staff pairing clip
Joshua Weissman cooks short-rib ragu
The tableside introduction
“This is Le Redini from Tenuta degli Dei in Panzano, 90 percent Merlot with Alicante. Carlo Ferrini in the cellar. Antonio Galloni 95. Pour it with a short-rib ragu.”
Ready for your team
Put the story to work.
Shelf talker
A concise bottle story for guest-facing displays. No trade price.
Download PDFServer card
The pitch, menu matches, and service notes in a compact format.
Download PDFFull trade sheet
Cavalli family, Ferrini, Panzano fruit, tasting, market context, and the case offer.
Download PDFOrder the case
Put Le Redini on the list.
A Panzano Merlot from San Leolino. Trade $16 a bottle, $192 the twelve-bottle case, one-case minimum.
