Sundays are for Sassicaia
8:15 has finally arrived. Kids are in bed after wrapping up a glow-in-the-dark games birthday party for our seven-year-old. My sweats are on, Blake lit the fire and we are about to dive into the newest season of Atypical. It’s as good a night as any to open up a bottle of wine. Tonight we chose a 2004 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia thanks to a little help from CellarTracker: our digital database of wine that essentially tells us what to drink next. An extra special thanks to our good friend, Simone, who gave us this bottle as a wedding gift.
Proclaimed by many as the first Super Tuscan, Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted his first vineyards in 1944 on land that his wife inherited in Bolgheri, Italy. He was determined to create a Bourdeaux-style wine instead of the Sangiovese-based wines, typical of the region. Mario found the perfect spot inland but raised above sea level and overlooking the Tyrennhian Sea on similar rocky soil (Sassicaia translates to ‘area of many stones) that you would find on the French region’s left bank. There he planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc—both thrived. After pairing up with the then winemaker for Antinori, Giacomo Tachis, their first commercial vintage was released in 1968. Sassicaia saw a relatively quick rise to success; and, in 1985, Robert Parker gave the winery its first 100 point rating. It consistently rates high year after year well into the 90’s, and many consider it be an investment wine. The 2015 vintage was the #1 wine on Wine Spectator and 2016 got 100 point ratings from Wine Advocate. I’ve often wondered how much politics goes into wine ratings, but I can say from my spot sipping on the sofa last night, it was superb!
A few other nuggets that I think make this wine extra special:
Giacomo Tachis remained the winemaker until the 2007 vintage; he passed away in 2016. The winery is now run by Mario’s son, Marchese Nicoló Incisa della Rocchetta, and the winemaker is a woman by the name of Graziana Grassini (dream job).
While Bolgheri recieved its designation (DOC) as a wine-producing region in 1983, in 2013, Sassicaia became the only wine from a single estate to have its own DOC (listed as “Bolgheri-Sassicaia DOC,” a subzone of the Bolgheri DOC).
2004
Tenuta San Guido
Sassicaia
85% Cabernet/15% Cabernet Franc
Like all good old wines, the time in bottle did it justice, giving it great balance only helped further by decanting it for a few hours. Lots of black fruits (think blackberries) and even a hint of balsamic. It lingers well after drinking—in a good way.
Blake and I recently went to Bolgheri; it is every bit as beautiful as I imagined.
