As one of Italy’s most famous wines Sassicaia was first available on the commercial market in 1968. Since the very first bottle was sold back then today almost forty years later the wine stands today as Italy’s testament to the world of its ability to produce fine wine.
To understand what that means, it’s worth heading back to the Italian wine scene in 1968, the inaugural vintage of what was to become the first, and is still arguably the best known, Super Tuscan. Most Italian wine at that time was either consumed locally or shipped off in bulk to the rest of Europe where it was blended with weedier examples that needed some beefing up.
The Italian system of DOC made its appearance only in 1963 (compare this with Spain, that had its first DOC with Rioja in 1925). Tuscany’s Chianti region got its DOC in 1967, a reflection of its rich history that dates back many centuries.
Bolgheri Sassicaia was born from a hunch who took Bordeaux grapes over to the Tuscan coast. It was made privately at the estate from 1948 until 1967, until the Antinori family and their oenologist Giacomo Tachis became involved. At this point, the 1968 vintage became the first Sassicaia available to the general public.
Its success eventually gave birth to its own category, the IGT that today embraces over 200 different wines which later led to the creation of DOC Bolgheri – a region that in 1994 had 250 hectares and in 2013 had reached 1,200 hectares with the sub region DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia.
The vineyard itself has around 90 hectares, from an estate of, 2,000 hectares, with the vines planted wherever they are best suited across four separate spots rather than in one continuous plot.
With an Average production is 220,000 bottles annually, made it widely available to wine lovers with the budget. But where it differs from Lafite, Latour and their siblings is that Sassicaia has kept Italy as its biggest market, something they should rightly be proud of.
Sassicaia signature characteristics– its balance, the longevity, and the ability to change and evolve in the glass, giving something new each time you return also worth pointing to the exceptional softness of the tannins, that even in the young bottles are gentle and caressing.
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