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Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia Bolgheri 2020

Reviews

97 -Wine Spectator -

Complex aromas and flavors of black currant, blackberry, iron, sweet tobacco and Mediterranean herbs are the hallmarks of this elegant, tensile red, which is already revealing plenty, yet still feels reserved, as though there were many more facets to be discovered. Superb harmony and freshness prevail, ending with a long aftertaste. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2045. 23,300 cases made, 5,300 cases imported.

97 -Vinous -

The 2020 Sassicaia is a bold, rapturous wine. Dark, fleshy and expansive on the palate, the 2020 offers up scents of blackberry jam, gravel, spice, new leather, licorice and crème de cassis. Potent tannins are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. 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.

97 -Jeb Dunnuck -

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 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 wonderful sweetness of fruit, although it’s fully dry. It has a great finish and is very appealing throughout. Drink 2025-2055.

97 -James Suckling -

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. 85% cabernet sauvignon and the rest is cabernet franc. Very attractive now in a youthful and vibrant way, but this will be better in three to four years. Try after 2027.

96 -Decanter -

Even in a round vintage like the 2020, Sassicaia, upon release, appears taut and subtle. Its austere elegance makes it seem as if it's from farther north. Its typical leafy restraint emerges on the nose, with kiwi peel, fresh cassis, violet, cedar wood, and citrus in depth. The body is tight-knit, more elegant than powerful, with great integration and natural freshness, vibrancy and a lively character; almost zesty in profile. Sassicaia typically ages in French oak barrels (45% new) for 25 months.

94 -Robert Parker's Wine Advocate -

The Tenuta San Guido 2020 Bolgheri Sassicaia needs extra time to open, gradually blossoming to reveal a pretty range of tonic, taut fruit tones. The wine initially shows a bright, malic character that contributes to its early sharpness, before shifting across the aromatic spectrum as it expands to reveal a more open or oxidative note, ultimately lending this vintage a sense of immediacy. The palate closes with good fruit weight and dry spice carried on the tannins. Reminiscent of the approachable 2015 vintage, this edition may not have the cellaring potential of 2016 or 2019.

Technical Details

Blend 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc
Winemaker Carlo Paoli and Graziana Grassini
Country Italy
Region Tuscany
Appellation Bolgheri Sassicaia
Vineyard Sassicaia Estate Vineyards (including sub-parcels such as Castiglioncello, Quercione, and Aianova), planted at altitudes between 100 and 400 meters
Farming Method Sustainable Practices
Oak 45% new French oak barriques, plus 45% first fill and 10% second fill
Fermentation Spontaneous fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks (28–30°C) with primary skin contact and maceration lasting 15 to 18 days. Frequent delestages and pumping-over, with malolactic fermentation completed in the tank
Aging / Cooperage 25 months in 45% new French oak barriques, plus 45% first fill and 10% second fill
Alcohol 14%
Production 23,300 cases

Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia Bolgheri 2020

Name: Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia Bolgheri 2020
Brand: First Bottle
SKU: 1011432
Price: 234.95 USD
Availability: OutOfStock

Super Tuscan Blends | Tuscany

WS97, VN97, JD97, JS97, DC96, WA94

SPECIAL: Ground shipping included on 6+ bottles!

Sustainable Practices

$375.00

$234.95

750ML

37% OFF RETAIL!

6 bottles left! Tenuta San Guido is the Bolgheri estate of the Incisa della Rocchetta family, which pioneered Bordeaux grape varieties on the Tuscan coast and created Sassicaia, the original "Super Tuscan.” This wine was so distinctive that in 1994 it became the first, and still only, single-estate wine granted its own DOC designation, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC. The 2020 vintage is a classic blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, from a growing season that started cool before turning warm and dry in August.

It was also a year shaped by pandemic-era lockdowns, though the estate's Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta noted there were always enough people on hand to get vineyard work done, with production down mainly due to March frosts and strict selection. In the cellar, the wine underwent extended skin maceration before aging in French oak barrels, roughly 45% new, for about 25 months, producing a bottling that carries 14% alcohol. Critically, it was very well received with four 97 point scores, and Antonio Galloni of Vinous called it a bold, rapturous wine.

Dark juicy fruit, cassis, cedar, tobacco, Mediterranean herbs, graphite, and sweet spice notes abound with elegance, portraying great integration, natural freshness, and a lively, almost zesty character. Compared with cooler Sassicaia vintages that need years to open up, the 2020 is unusually accessible and compelling straight out of the gate, showing balance, textural richness, and soft tannins, making it a vintage prized for immediate pleasure as much as long-term cellaring potential. Well over $100 off, this is a trophy for your cellar and a wine that lives up to its lofty reputation!

About The Producer

The Tenuta San Guido is a 7,500-acre estate located in the province of Livorno on the western coastal outskirts of Tuscany near the village of Bolgheri. Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta acquired it through his marriage to Clarice della Gherardesca in 1940. The legacy of Sassicaia began in 1944, when Mario Incisa acquired a number of Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc vine cuttings and planted them on a sloping hillside of the San Guido estate, called Castiglioncello after the 11th-century castle at the vineyard's upper edge. This tiny, 3.75-acre vineyard stood alone until 1965, when a second Cabernet vineyard was planted with cuttings from the Castiglioncello parcel; the gravelly, 30-acre plot would give the wine its name: Sassicaia, "the place of many stones". With the radical changes in the D.O.C. system of regulations as of the 1994 vintage, Sassicaia's extraordinary reputation was acknowledged through the Italian government's granting the wine its own appellation, the only of its kind.

$375.00

$234.95

750ML

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