This enticing red offers alluring aromas of fragrant purple flowers, dark-skinned berries and crushed mint. The elegantly structured palate doles out succulent blackberry, orange zest, licorice and saline notes set against taut, refined tannins. It's nicely balanced by fresh acidity.
95 POINTS WINE ENTHUSIAST
93 POINTS RAFFAELE VECCHIONE
93 POINTS FALSTAFF
Tenuta San Guido is much better known by the name of its most famous wine – Sassicaia. It is located in the Tuscan region of Maremma, and is has its own single-estate DOC appellation (Bolgheri Sassicaia) applied to its flagship label.
Sassicaia ("stony field" in English) was created as an experimental wine in the 1940s by the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta (a cousin of the Antinoris), who dreamed of making a wine to rival great Bordeaux. On settling at his wife's estate, he experimented with several French varieties before focusing on Cabernet Sauvignon, noting the similarity between the local gravelly terrain and that of Graves in Bordeaux.
His initial wines, which were heavier than other local wines, did not gain a warm reception and so, while production continued on a small scale, the first commercial release of Sassicaia did not happen until 1968. The wine was an immediate hit, and production was quickly modernised. In the 1980s, the Marchese's cousin Ludovico Antinori began to plant his neighboring property, Ornellaia.
The wine was initially released as a Vino da Tavola due in part to the lack of history of the coastal region it was made in, which was dismissed as swampy by many producers. But Sassicaia's early acclaim prompted the introduction of the Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) classification across Italy, as the authorities did not want Italy's most famous wine to be labeled Vino da Tavola. In 1994, the single estate DOC and broader Bolgheri appellation were set up as planting across the entire Maremma rapidly increased.
Pairing Suggestions: Goes well with rich meat dishes and aged cheeses.
Maturation: Once malolactic fermentation was complete, the wine was placed in French oak barriques, and a small part in American oak, where it was aged for a period between the 20 and 25 months. The duration of the ageing is technically decided on the basis of the seasonal trend of the vintage.
