#85 in Top 100 Wines of Italy, 2025. Plenty of red currant, cedar, iron and terra cotta aromas follow through to a medium to full body with graphite, sandalwood, red currants and fresh Mediterranean herbs such as thyme and rosemary. The tannins are chewy but polished in texture. This is a Sassicaia that needs three or four years of bottle age to come together and soften. A structured wine for the cellar. Try after 2029.
#4 in The Enthusiast 100, 2025. Aromas of vanilla, tobacco leaf, wild blackberries and blueberries gust on the nose, while the palate brings more sweet berries and vanilla but also has an unexpected bouncy, lively, almost pop-rocks feel from the acid. Flexible tannins structure a warm, citrus finish. As ever, a five-star luxury, with the ease of a lifetime of experience.
The wine is tightly coiled and concentrated. It feels almost cinched at the waist, with a fascinating tension between the weight of raspberry, blackberry and strawberry coulis fruit and the wine's verticality, as if it's trying to burst out. Lovely mid-palate sapidity is allied to fresh acidity and fine but dense tannins, making for a dark horse of a Sassicaia that isn't giving much away today but will greatly reward those who can cellar it for 12 years and more. ‘What is sure is that 2022 will need a lot of time, but will also have a long life,’ said Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta. A hot vintage, 2022 caused the team to work in the newly completed refrigerated warehouses in San Guido, even moving the sorting table inside. Shorter macerations and 23 rather than the more typical 24 or 25 months of ageing in wood helped to maximise the freshness.
The 2022 Sassicaia is a deeper, youthful magenta/red color with a slightly deeper aromatic profile of rosemary, gravelly earth, sage, mossy earth, and fresh black cherries. The palate has slightly broader shoulders but remains elegant. It has more plushness on the mid-palate, while its acidity shines through with the finish. It will need several years to shed its baby fat and show its full potential. Drink 2028-2058.
The Tenuta San Guido 2022 Bolgheri Sassicaia is very much defined by its strong tannic backbone, and tasting it now, a year after release, that impression remains unchanged. A perfumed, almost floral component lifts the bouquet, which stays elegantly vertical and sharp despite the wine’s power. This is a little tank of a wine, moving forward with muscle and intensity, a character memorably described by Tenuta San Guido general manager Carlo Paoli as “a kid with a drum kit,” an image that feels both fitting and true. The vintage saw lower yields, down 18%, due to severe fruit selection in a hot and dry growing season. The finish brings playful notes of mint and sweet grenadine, trailing off with surprising elegance.
A bit shy aromatically, this red exhibits black currant, black cherry, blackberry, tobacco and sweet spice flavors, with a hint of eucalyptus. Concentrated, offering assertive tannins that take hold as this evolves to the finish. Though closed and compact at this stage, overall this is balanced, fresh and long. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2028 through 2045.
The 2022 Sassicaia is a very pretty, expressive wine. There’s a bit more Cabernet Sauvignon (and less Franc) in this year’s blend, and that really comes through in the wine’s flavor profile and slightly bruising tannins. Dark cherry, plum, leather, licorice, graphite and incense give the 2022 striking aromatic presence to match its rather brooding personality. There’s a bit of tension in the tannins that needs time to resolve. Yields were down about 20% because of intensely cold weather in spring, variable conditions during flowering and set, and then searing heat and drought throughout the summer.
Winery Notes
The first Super Tuscan, this great Cabernet allies a dense core of pure, ripe black currant fruit flavors and aromas with smoky notes of cedar, tobacco and vanilla to a refined supporting acidity and a sleek, finely integrated tannic structure.