Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2006

Tenuta San Guido and the Bolgheri region reside close to the coast near Pisa.  It was here, in the 1940s that Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchette took cutting from Bordeaux, it is rumoured that they originated from Chateau Lafite but the Italian estate disputes this,  to plant his original vineyard with eighty-five percent Cabernet Sauvignon and fifteen percent Cabernet France. As the first commercial or public release was in 1968 one can imagine that for a large proportion of Sassicaia’s life it was a homebrew for family members.  Now that’s good homebrew! On many occasions older bottles of Sassicaia have be mistaken for Mouton-Rothchild and Chateau Lafite which leads me to my fascination with this estate.  I have a love for Bordeaux and Italian wines so I thought why not combine the two.  Compared to top Bordeaux’s this is cheap but at $220 its not like you can splash it around too often, except if you earn big bucks. There are now three vineyards, the original which contributes much of the Sassicaia blend, on a variety of soils and elevations that contribute to the three Tenuta San Guido labels. 

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2006

I had high hopes for this wine as it comes from a much hyped vintage but does it live up to expectations?  The wine is very reserved and focused but as the wine opens you get a rainbow of flavours cascading over your mouth.  There is a bergamot tea taste that is very enchanting that shows its head every now and again through the essence of blackcurrant, fresh violets, fresh fired clay pots (ok so I liked my pottery teacher when I was young) and hickory smoked leather and while these are inviting flavours it is the spectacular length and mouth feel that leave you breathless.  You may need to drink this standing next to a wall just encase you faint! The wine is a conundrum in that you have elegance, structure and intensity. This makes the Tignanello 2007 look clumsy.

Alcohol: 13.5%
Price: $220
Rated: 97 +++
Drink: 2021 - 2035

Importer: Negociants