The Producer

Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri

Three are its defining characteristics: the Sassicaia wine, the Razza Dormello-Olgiata thoroughbred studfarm and the Bird Sanctuary Padule di Bolgheri. They divide the estate between the Padule on the coast, the horse's training grounds on the plain, and the vineyards planted up to 350 meters on the hills. The latter have been given their own DOC, the DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, the first, and so far only case in Italy of a DOC contained in one estate.

Sassicaia

In the 1920s the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta dreamt of creating a ‘thoroughbred’ wine and for him, as for all the aristocracy of the time, the ideal was Bordeaux. This is how he described it in a letter to the esteemed wine critic, Luigi Veronelli dated 11 June 1974:

“…the origins of my experiment date back to the years between 1921 and 1925 when, as a student in Pisa and often a guest of the Salviati Dukes in Migliarino, I drank a wine produced from one of their vineyards…which had the same unmistakable “bouquet” as an aged Bordeaux….”

In the 1940s, having settled with his wife Clarice on the Tenuta San Guido on the Tyrrhenian coast, he experimented with several French grape varieties (whose cuttings he had recovered from the estate of the Dukes Salviati in Migliarino) and concluded that the Cabernet had "the bouquet I was looking for."

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

‘Graves’, or ‘gravel’ in French refers to the rocky terrain which distinguishes the Bordeaux area; similarly, the gravely vineyard sites in Tuscany impart the same characteristics on Sassicaia, "stony ground", as its cherished French brother.

The Marchese's first vintages were not warmly received. Critics accustomed to light, local wines were not encouraging; it was not taken into consideration that wines made from the more complex Cabernet Sauvignon grape would need more time to mature and develop.

And thus from 1948 to 1967, Sassicaia remained a strictly private affair, only to be consumed at Tenuta San Guido.

Each year, a few cases were stored to age in the Castiglioncello di Bolgheri cellar. The Marchese soon realized that by ageing the wine it improved considerably.

Friends and relatives now urged Mario Incisa to experiment further with his project and perfect his revolutionary winemaking style. It was not until 1968 that Sassicaia was first commercially released – the welcome was worthy of a Bordeaux Premier Cru.

The Region

Tuscany, Toscana

The rolling hills of Tuscany are alive with endless rows of vines. In fact, wine is produced over most of the territory in this region of central Italy. The passion, gusto, and delightful flavours of the wine is directly related to the heart and soul of this beautiful land full of myths and legends. However, it's history much more interesting.

The wine of Tuscany is cultivated with great passion in Chianti, the hills around Montalcino, the vineyards of San Gimignano and the Lucchesia. Vines grown in the Livorno Hills and the Maremma near the coast carry strong sea notes. Those in the Sienese countryside taste of the warmth of the sun combined with the richness of the soil.

Giacomo Tachis, Italian wine expert, and creator of the Sassicaia wine describes the Tuscan vineyards with passion. “Here there is light, the sun. Radiant sunlight and the right soil are the soul of wine. But the tradition of the countryside and the memory of men are the solid basis of the extraordinary Tuscan wine culture.”

From antiquity, the fruit of the vine has been highly esteemed. Gilgamesh, an ancient Sumerian king, was certain that the secret of immortality could be found in the grapevine. It was during this time that the vines of Tuscany were planted along the sea in Maremma and the coastal regions south of Livorno. It was here that the cradle of Tuscan wines began.

The Sangiovese grapevine emerged in the Sienese hills during the early 1700’s. This was to be the first step leading to Chianti, the historic area of central Tuscany known for its great red wines. It is a triangle of land that lies between Greve, Radda, Castellina, and Gaiole. Chianti wine became so important to the Sienese economy and Florentine region that by 1903 an association was formed to protect its quality. In 1931, the boundaries of Chianti vineyards were established.

Historian Zeffiro Ciuffoletti sums up the development of Tuscan wine perfectly. “Tuscany, as regards wines, has no equal the world over, thanks to a most felicitous nature, and to a civilization of the grapevine and of wine that has been decanted and refined over the centuries.”