Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido, Bolgheri 2020

The 2020 spent 15-18 days on the skins, followed by 25 months in French oak, 50% new. Production is down about 30% because of selection in the vineyard.

The 2020 Sassicaia is a bold, rapturous wine. Dark, fleshy and expansive on the palate, the 2020 offers scents of blackberry jam, gravel, spice, new leather, liquorice and crème de cassis. The sheer intensity of the fruit nearly buries potent tannins. Sassicaia is never a huge wine; the 2020 does seem to have an extra dimension of textural intensity. It's an intensity that is hugely appealing. 

Estate Manager Carlo Paoli describes 2020 as a year with a long, rainy winter and a cold spring. "Temperatures warmed up in the middle of June," he explained. "July was very hot, but heat moderated in August. Even so, it was a year in which ripeness moved quickly, as opposed to 2021, when ripeness was more gradual. We picked the entire estate in 22 days instead of the 29-30 that is more typical."

Drink 2028 - 2050

In late March, frosts damaged the earlier-developing Cabernet Franc, reducing production but superb quality fruit. Spring was mild, and summer was generally warm, but a rapid acceleration of maturation in late summer forced the team to begin picking in the first week of September to avoid overripeness. A traditional 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc blend, its blackcurranty, dusty, leafy and cedary character is brought into focus by an intense and balsamic palate.

It's poised and light on its feet with super-fresh acidity and a fine-grained, almost imperceptible tannic structure. Ripe and tangy raspberry and blueberry fruits linger in the mid-palate, leading to a long, fresh finish with cream and chocolate notes. This will reward cellaring into the 2050s, yet you'll get plenty of pleasure from it in its youth. 'We advise to keep it at least ten months in the bottle before opening,' states third-generation Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta.

Drink 2024 - 2055

85% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest is Cabernet Franc.

A very perfumed Sassicaia on the nose with forest floor, citrus and deep dark fruits. Blackcurrants. Cedar and black tea. Some balsamic. Pine needles. Full and very succulent. Really long, structured and complete. Tangy and energetic with a linear line of fresh tannins and acidity. Very Sassicaia throughout. Very attractive now in a youthful and vibrant way, but this will be better in three to four years. 

Try after 2027

Pure red with a garnet hue, the 2020 Sassicaia is stunning, with fantastic, elegantly layered aromas of black raspberry liqueur, macchia, fresh leather, and fresh lavender. Full-bodied with a clean lift, it reveals a more luxurious and polished texture with a velvety feel, a long finish, and a touch of warming richness. As it opens, it reveals notes of mocha and Amarena cherry and becomes distilled and pure with the wonderful sweetness of fruit, although it’s fully dry. It has a great finish and is very appealing throughout.

Drink 2025 - 2055

The Tenuta San Guido 2020 Bolgheri Sassicaia speaks to those who seek a more voluptuous, opulent and, ultimately, more accessible wine. This vintage precisely reflects Coastal Tuscany, unlike a more generic "Tuscan" wine from elsewhere in this large central Italian region. You taste the ripeness and soft fruit weight from a coastal appellation with exceptionally bright luminosity and warm Mediterranean offshore breezes. Sassicaia from the cool vintages is a famously reticent or withholding wine in its earliest years, requiring a long lead time before it eases into an ideal drinking window. That's definitely not the case here.

This wine is beautiful and compelling straight out of the gate, showing a lovely mix of dark fruit, oak spice, balanced freshness, textural richness, soft tannins and an expertly contained 14% alcohol content. The wine's immediate character is what distinguishes this vintage, and I wouldn't get too fussed by exaggerated cellar-aging ambitions. The wine awards sheer pleasure in its current form, with dazzling primary fruit and soaring intensity over the near and medium term.

Drink 2024 - 2042