Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido

Tuscany is known for its rich heritage and its multi-generational traditions that give voice to tried-and-true methods for various aspects of life and cuisine. This cultural backdrop can be enriching, but it can also be stagnant, even stubborn, to those within that are looking for a different path or alternate voice. The Super Tuscan Movement of the 1960s and 70s was a response to just such a feeling, a protest against a bureaucratic system with rules too stifling in their alignment with winemaking traditions. It was a multi-decade counter-culture statement, a local wine revolution with international reverberations, and the first domino to tip was the 1968 Sassicaia.

Sassicaia History: Tenuta San Guido & Mario Rochetta

For decades beforehand, Mario Rochetta had been making wine for private family consumption from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc cuttings (rumored from Lafite-Rothschild) he had planted in the picturesque seaside estate of Bolgheri. Rochetta had lofty goals to make great wine, but was never taken seriously, especially not by the critics early on. Upon the realization that his wines were capable of incredible aging-power, Rochetta released his wines under the Tenuta San Guido banner as Vino da Tavola (“table wine”), the lowest tiered appellation in the Italian wine hierarchy, below DOC and DOCG, and the only one his wines could qualify for considering the grapes he was working with. The dam had broken and an outpour of similarly high quality, yet categorically “lesser” wines started to appear on the market as simply Vino da Tavola.

Tenuta San Guido: Bordeaux Wines in Tuscany

Today, these wines still represent some of these finest Tuscan styles, intense in varietal character, expressive of terroir, and alive with Italian gusto. Sassicaia has remained true to its original self, and has even earned a DOC of its own, the only style in all of Italy to have a dedicated appellation. Despite the rather unconventional history, there are remarkable parallels between Sassicaia and the famous wines of Left Bank Bordeaux. These Cabernet Sauvignon blends see generous time in French barrique, and even vineyard’s stony soils (“Sassicaia” meaning “the place of many stones”) are reminiscent of the gravelly landscape found in Médoc, the ideal terrain for Cabernet to thrive in. The final wines are energetic and structured, surprisingly elegant for their power. When youthful, Sassicaia is taut and intense, but with time, they are able to unfurl and show a lavish bouquet of vibrant florals, green pepper and cacao.