Sassicaia: A Deep Dive
Sassicaia is the wine that built the modern Italian fine wine movement. Made on the Tuscan coast at Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri, it is a Cabernet Sauvignon-Cabernet Franc blend with overtly Bordelais ambition — and the wine that forced Italy's appellation system to rewrite itself.
The origin
Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings from Château Lafite Rothschild at Tenuta San Guido in the 1940s. For decades the wine was a private family bottling. In 1968, his son Nicolò first commercialised it. The wine had no DOC — Tuscany's appellations did not allow Cabernet — and so it was sold as humble Vino da Tavola.
The 1985 vintage
The 1985 Sassicaia, blind-tasted by Decanter in 1992 against 33 Cabernet Sauvignons from around the world, was placed first. The result shocked the wine establishment and confirmed that Italy could produce wines worthy of Bordeaux's first growths.
The Bolgheri DOC
In 1994, Italy created the Bolgheri DOC specifically to accommodate the Super Tuscan wines that had emerged in the coastal hills. Sassicaia received its own sub-appellation: Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC — the only single-property denomination in Italian wine law.
The wines
- Sassicaia — the grand vin, typically 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, aged 24 months in French oak.
- Guidalberto — a second wine introduced in 2000; Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sangiovese in roughly equal proportions.
- Le Difese — a third wine introduced later; Cabernet Sauvignon-Sangiovese, designed as an accessible entry to the estate style.
The terroir
Bolgheri sits on the Tuscan coast facing the Tyrrhenian Sea. The maritime climate is markedly different from the inland hills of Chianti — warmer, drier, with strong marine influence. Soils are a mix of clay, limestone, and gravel. The vineyards of Sassicaia run along the slopes above the small town of Castagneto Carducci.
Reference vintages
The 1985, 1988, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2015, 2016, and 2018 are the modern reference points. Sassicaia ages 20-30 years in great vintages — extraordinary for an Italian wine that did not exist commercially before 1968.
Visiting
Tenuta San Guido does not run public visits. Some specialist operators can arrange tours; otherwise the wine is best encountered at quality Italian restaurants and Bolgheri-village enoteche.
Explore on the map
Find Tenuta San Guido on the interactive map. Filter to Tuscany and zoom to the Bolgheri DOC on the coast west of Florence and Siena — the surrounding estates of Ornellaia, Le Macchiole, and Grattamacco are equally important.