Sassicaia masterclass at Decanter’s London Fine Wine Encounter 2022

1999 was a warm vintage and a very hot summer throughout Tuscany, but it was not as hot as 2005 or 2003. There was no rain in spring and summer, so the harvest was earlier than usual, starting in August and ending mid-September. The 1999 Sassicaia was undervalued a little when it first appeared on the market, and it was only appreciated later. This was because it came after vintages like 1996, 1997 and 1998 which were all excellent. Today this wine still looks sprightly and alive. There are aromas of sweet grass, hay, spice, and the fresh leather notes of a mature wine, but the nose is not oxidative or tertiary. There is a spine of fresh acidity giving vibrancy and lingering, fine, grainy tannins. This wine has aged very gracefully. It is mature and drinking now.

The 2002 vintage was considered one of the worst vintages ever to produce grapes. It was so rainy and wet that many producers decided not to produce wine in Bolgheri. Giacomo Tachis, Tenuta San Guido’s famous winemaker, was very concerned at the time about releasing this wine, but Marchese Nicolò Incisa Della Rocchetta believed in it. The 2002 still looks youthful and shows a good concentration and intensity of flavours. The fruit expression is cool, dark berried fruit with forest floor notes that call to mind the dark woods surrounding the original Castiglioncello vineyard. A strict selection took place and only 90,000 bottles were produced that year, whereas normally a typical production is between 200,000 to 240,000 bottles.

The 2005 vintage was very similar to the 1999 in that it was quite hot, but by 2005 there was a larger surface area of vineyard from which to source grapes. The more recently planted vineyards had come of age, much more so than they had in 1999. The production was not high, and some berries were not perfectly ripe with little green elements, but this gave the Sassicaia team more acidity and brightness. 2005 did not have a great reputation when released because 2004 was a great year and then everyone was excited and waiting to see 2006 and 2007. 'Today 2005 is one of the most requested vintages,' says General Manager Carlo Paoli, 'it’s a good compromise between freshness and concentration.' On the nose it is a little more fragrant with open, sunny, brighter more transparent aromas. On the palate there is an edgy nervosity and tangy, juicy acidity, which I love, together with dry, clipped tannins. The wine still feels energetic and young.

The 2006 Sassicaia still has a dark garnet colour while nose has an impression of smoke and crushed dried flowers and some subtle, charred toast notes of oak. On the palate there is a lovely, soft, velvety texture together with dark, bramble fruit flavours. The fruit feels cooler in nature with leafy blackberry notes and again a thrilling spine of acidity. For Priscilla Incisa Della Rocchetta and the Tenuta San Guido team the 2006 was 'a rather fresher vintage … an elegant wine with good structure, the classic Sassicaia style with notes of juniper, myrtle, and Mediterranean forest, characteristic of this wine and the terroir where it is produced.'

The 2008 Sassicaia has plenty of dark fruit and it is still tight and youthful. On the palate there is bright acidity and a vibrant, energetic quality about this wine. The tannins are very fine and beautifully integrated into the body of the wine. There is a lovely range of flavours with savoury, tea leaf, smoke and tobacco notes. There is plenty of depth and concentration but also great finesse. Priscilla Incisa Della Rocchetta notes that the number '8' is a lucky one for Tenuta San Guido. They released their first vintage with the 1968 and won the best Cabernet in the Decanter blind tasting in 1978. This 2008 is also one of the great vintages for Sassicaia.

The 2011 Sassicaia comes from a vintage with a cold winter, a mild spring with abundant rains and a very good difference in temperatures between night and day during the summer and there were sunny days during the harvest. You can feel this sunny bright personality in the wine. The nose is open and accessible with aromas of bright red fruit and cream. On the palate there are contrasting flavours which are a little green and firm but these are enveloped in a luxurious texture and weight.

The Sassicaia 2013 is just beautiful, and it takes a leap forward in quality. There is even greater precision and transparency with the aromas and flavours, there is a wonderful harmony and ease on the palate and there are even finer, and more seamless tannins on this wine. According to my co-host, Priscilla Incisa Della Rocchetta 2013 was a 'record vintage for Sassicaia'. Carlo Paoli adds, 'spring arrived early but without excess, summer started slowly and was only hot for 20 days and they started harvest mid-September for Cabernet Sauvignon. Everything was slow, calm and beautiful.' The 2013 is at the beginning of its drinking window and drinking beautifully now, but it still has a long time to go.

The 2015 vintage was also a very hot vintage and produced a bolder, riper style of wine which was much loved and appreciated by wine critics and collectors alike, but for Tenuta San Guido themselves it was less typically Sassicaia and a little less elegant and reserved than their preferred style. However, it is a wine with a lot of charm. It is big, bold and full bodied with aromas of toast and cream and plenty of ripe blackberries. This 2015 has a young, forceful personality that’s hard not to like. Full of charm.

This 2017 Sassicaia is wonderfully fragrant on the nose, but it needs an hour or more to really open up. 2017 was a very difficult vintage mainly because it was so dry it didn't rain for most of the summer and for much of the spring. The vines were stressed, and a lot of fine tuning and management was needed in the vineyards and in the winery to get the best results. But what I love so much about this 2017 is that Carlo Paoli and the Tenuta San Guido team have done a brilliant job. There is a lovely harmony on the palate and a lovely mouth-watering freshness and acidity which is a signature of Sassicaia but more of a challenge in this vintage. There is a little dry twist to the tannins on the finish, but they are beautifully integrated into the rest of the wine and this after all is a signature of the 2017.

Sassicaia is a fresh Mediterranean wine with elegance and although concentrated, it's almost never huge - and definitely not this 2019, which is arguably leaner than expected for a Bolgheri. However, this style is the signature of this great wine: extremely elegant lavender scents alongside bramble fruit, leafy Mediterranean spiciness and cedar wood length, supported by ripe, polished tannins and poised, savoury fruit. It recalls some of the classic vintages of the 1980s; its chiselled balance suggests long ageing potential. The traditional blend for this wine is 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Cabernet Franc, aged for 25 months in oak (one-third new).