Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia DOC

The 1968 vintage saw the debut of Sassicaia, a courageous wine that at the time, broke away from the standard way of making Tuscan Wine. The wine is named after the stony soil which it comes from, and, by its nature, is destined to go far

Bolgheri Sassicaia

“We believe that Sassicaia is one of the greatest wine creations of the century. It also happens to be simply wonderful to drink. May it thrive through the new millennium” (Serena Sutcliffe MW & David Peppercorn MW)

SOIL STYLE

The soils on which the vineyards stand has varied and complex terrain features with a strong presence of limestone, feature areas rich in marl and pebbles as well as being partly clayey.  The production facilities are located at an average altitude of between 80 and 400 metres After an autumn with mild temperatures and frequent rainfall, the winter was fairly dry with temperatures often above the seasonal average. Spring came a little early and, from mid March, the beautiful sunny days and the consistent rise in temperatures anticipated the growth of the buds. However, in April the weather changed again with a substantial drop in temperatures and the return of rain. The entire month of April was very rainy, and this situation stabilized the water reserve of the soils. The continuation of spring was rather unusual with rainfall and cold temperatures also affected by tramontana winds. From the end of May, the weather improved, and from June, summer arrived with sunny days, normal temperatures and excellent ventilation (particularly at night).

The end of June recorded intense temperatures, but fortunately this sweltering heat only
lasted for a short time, with the continuation of summer stabilizing at temperatures well
within the seasonal average. July and August were hot months, but still with temperatures
within the norm, without any excesses, except for the last week of July where the muggy heat persisted for about a week. Immediately after mid-August, there was some rain that brought coolness back and helped normalize plant vitality.

HARVESTING
The harvest, which was carried out entirely by hand, began in the second week of September with the cabernet franc grapes and then continued with the cabernet sauvignon, starting first with the vineyards at lower altitudes, and ending in the first ten days of October in the hillside vineyards above 300 meters above sea level.

FERMENTATION
Selection of the grapes using a sorting table, soft pressing and gentle destemming of the
grapes using suitable machinery so as not to break the integrity of the berries. Alcoholic
fermentation (entirely spontaneous and without the addition of external yeasts) was
completed in mid-October and took place regularly at a maximum temperature of 26-27 °C.  The malolactic fermentations carried out in stainless steel vats were completed with
regularity at the end of November thanks to the reduced external temperatures. In early
December wine was placed in barrels from the first ten days of December 2019.

AGEING
Once malolactic fermentation was complete, the wine was placed in French oak barriques,
and a small part in American oak, where it was aged for a period between the 20 and 25
months. The duration of the ageing is technically decided on the basis of the seasonal trend of the vintage.