Sassicaia 2018 - Tenuta San Guido

Sassicaia 2018 - Tenuta San Guido

Bolgheri Sassicaia - Tenuta San Guido

97+/100 Parker 

Cellaring: 2024 - 2045

Tasted by Monica Larner on January 14, 2021: "This is a classic vintage from an Italian icon now celebrating its 50th vintage. The 2018 Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri Sassicaia lays out a familiar blueprint that borrows from the time-tested track record of this iconic estate that sprawls in the hills just beyond Tuscany's Tyrrhenian shores. This vintage is crystalline and pure in its delivery, and if you're familiar with previous editions, it's impossible to mistake this wine for anything but Sassicaia. "

The growing season began with cool, wet conditions but turned to warm, dry conditions comfortably before harvest. The Cabernet Sauvignon, with the Cabernet Franc in a supporting role, offers a graceful, medium-heavy texture that stays back in terms of style and phenolic density. The wine's careful balance is achieved through nuanced fruit character, present acidity, well-managed structure and contained alcohol. The palate is lively and bright, the finish is polished and long, and the wine avoids any mid-palate heaviness. The bouquet is particularly intriguing with a bright plum fruit element that is enhanced by baker's chocolate, pepper spice, iron ore, caramel and pie crust. There is also a green character that positively adds to the bouquet with anise, tea leaf, soy, menthol and black olive. The ripeness of the fruit is perfect, with no over or under ripe elements. Overall, the 2018 Sassicaia weighs in with a slender frame and long persistence. Moreover, it stands out with archetypal elegance and pedigree.

- Denomination: D.O.C. Bolgheri Sassicaia

- First vintage : 1968

- Blend of grapes : 85 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 15 % Cabernet Franc

- Analytical data: Alcohol content: 14.00%; PH: 3.46; Total acidity: 5.85; Residual sugar content: 0.20 g/l

- Type of soils: The soils are entirely located within the territorial delimitation of the D.O.C. Sassicaia. They have different and composite morphological characteristics, characterized by a strong presence of calcareous zones rich in galestro, as well as pebbles and stones ("Sassicaia" in local dialect means soil with a lot of stones) and also partially clay. The vineyards are located at an altitude of between 100 and 400 meters above sea level and are oriented West/Southwest.

- Training system: Spurred cordon

- Planting density: Between 3,600 plants/ha and 5,550 plants/ha for the oldest plants and 6,200 plants/ha for the youngest.w

A wine produced mainly from Cabernet The use of Cabernet Sauvignon represents a fundamental change in the Tuscan and Piedmontese tradition of Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, respectively. The innovative decision to plant this grape variety at the Tenuta San Guido was partly due to the similarity that Mario Incisa had found between the Tuscan and Graves terrain in Bordeaux.

Each year, a few cases were stored for aging in the cellar of Castiglioncello di Bolgheri. The Marquisians soon realized that by aging the wine, it improved considerably.