Wine Notes
Although Tenuta San Guido do grow Sangiovese, the main Tuscan grape variety never appears in their flagship wine. Sassicaia is distinctly a Bordeaux blend made predominantly from Cabernet Sauvignon with a small amount of Cabernet Franc. However, this is not Bordeaux – and Bolgheri Sassicaia (the wine now has its own monopoly appellation) has forged its own separate identity. It is known for its elegance and finesse, its many layers of flavour and its long finish. The 2015 vintage has lots of ripe dark fruit thanks to the heat that year, but it has retained its freshness with a lovely savoury, earthy finish.
Additional Wine Notes
Because we are regularly asked Sassicaia vintage recommendations, we thought it worth putting them into some kind of order in terms of quality for current drinking.
Vintages not really drinking so well yet (but worth having in the cellar): 2018, 2014, 2017.
Immature vintages (try one, keep the rest for a while): 2016, 2011, 2015, 2010, 2013, 2012.
Mature vintages (probably at peak): 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2007, 2000, 2009, 2002.
Declining vintages (perfect for those who like maturity but losing a little fruit): 1985, 1995, 1998, 1982, 1997, 1993, 1978.
In their sunset years (principally of academic interest now): 1990, 1988, 1975, 1968, 1987, 1996, 1999, 1994, 1993, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1984, 1976.
Please don’t be mean to us if we’ve said that your favourite vintage isn’t great and please bear in mind that the older vintages tend to suffer from some bottle variation.
(We try to keep things up to date but please bear in mind that the steep recent rise in prices mean that we can’t afford to try Sassicaia vintages as often as we’d like!)
Producer Notes
The beginning of the Super Tuscan, or so the story goes: in the mid 1940’s Cabernet Sauvignon vines were planted at the Sassicaia estate in an attempt to produce a better quality Italian wine by blending it with the indigenous Sangiovese. The first commercial release in 1971 was a success and the Sassicaia name has remained synonymous with top end Super Tuscans ever since.
The vineyards are almost entirely planted with Bordeaux grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc) and some local Sangiovese. The Cabernet Franc goes into Sassicaia (around 15% of the blend, the remainder Cabernet Sauvignon), the Merlot into Guidalberto (around 40% of the blend), and the Sangiovese into Le Difese (around 30% of the blend), making them very different wines and not different quality levels of a similar wine, altough the backbone of all three is Cabernet Sauvignon.
Vintage Notes
2015 was an excellent vintage in Bolgheri DOC
2015 was a very good vintage in Tuscany
Other 2015 Bolgheri DOC
Other formats of 2015 Sassicaia
Other vintages of Sassicaia
1980: £480
1990: £590
1994: £350
2001: £450
2010: £320
2011: £310
2012: £370
2013: £340
2016: £460
2017: £275
2018 (in Double magnum): £2000
2018: £295
2019: £290
2021: £400
Other wines from Tenuta San Guido
2018 Le Difese: £27
2020 Guidalberto: £49
2020 Le Difese: £25
Our rating –