Sassicaia - Tenuta San Guido
The Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta produces wines at Tenuta San Guido, just inland from Bolgheri on the Tyrrhenian coast and has a very fine reputation. The Tenuta San Guido estate comprises the Sassicaia winery and vineyards, the only Italian DOC within a single estate, the Razza Dormello-Olgiata thoroughbred stud farm and the Padule di Bolgheri bird sanctuary.
The Sassicaia (‘place of many stones’) vineyards are planted in the hills at up to 350m above sea level, with a band rich in rocks and clay between 100 – 300m. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc fruit is hand-harvested, and following vinification the unfinished wine spends 24 months aging in French oak barriques followed by a few months in bottle prior to release. Initially made by the Mario Incisa della Rocchetta for the family’s private cellar, he was persuaded by family and friends to commercially release the wine, and the first public release of Sassicaia was in 1968. With help from Piero Antinori`s winemaker, Giacomo Tachis, viticulture and winemaking were further developed over the following years, and today Sassicaia enjoys an almost legendary status in the wine world. Sassicaia seems to do especially well in vintages that are less successful for the rest of Tuscany, and today it is one of the world’s finest expressions of Cabernet. It boasts extraordinary complexity, with texture, power, structure, finesse and longevity. Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta (pictured) is the president of Tenuta San Guido.