Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri 2022

Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido, DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, Tuscany, Italy, 2022

Grapes: 88% Cabernet Sauvignon & 12% Cabernet Franc, limestone/marl/clay soils, hand-harvested, wild yeast fermentation, 23 months' ageing in French oak barrels (40% new)

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"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..."

97/100 points, James Button, DECANTER, February 2025

"The tannins are gentle and integrated even now, while still in barrel, and its provides a striking contrast wtih many 2022s from this corner of Tuscany, where concentration is the byword. Sassicaia is able to retain acidity even in the hottest summers, and the balsamic and butterscotch notes are beautifully balanced by rosebuds, lavender, red cherries, rosemary, fennel, charred sandalwood and tomato leaf. The frame is in place, and the density offset by a soft textural caress. Sample taken from three barrels, final wine to be shipped in a few months, after a dry vintage helped by a few rains here just before harvest. 40% new oak for ageing, Carlo Paoli director" Drink 2030-2050

96/100 points, Jane Anson, INSIDE BORDEAUX, September 2024 

"The Tenuta San Guido 2022 Bolgheri Sassicaia reveals a beautiful fruit profile with fresh blackberry, tart cherry and Mediterranean tones of blue rosemary blooms and lavender sachet. I tasted this wine several times over the course of a few months, and it has already shown a happy evolution coming into slow focus like the faint colors that emerge from a Polaroid photograph. Indeed, the bouquet appeared more closed just a short while ago. The wine's strongest suit is its elegantly streamlined mouthfeel and its contained 13.5% alcohol content. These qualities add to the silky cleanness of the mouthfeel and the accessible freshness of this vintage. I am confident that this bottle will improve with time. It requires patience." Drink 2028-2050

97+/100 points, Monica Larner, WINE ADVOCATE, February 2025

One of the all time great wines of Italy (and the world), "Sassicaia" was first released commercially in 1968 by the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta. It's the only Italian estate to have its own DOC designation of Bolgheri Sassicaia. The wine's name, in English, means "Stony Field". Sold originally as a lowly Vino de Tavola (due to its grape blend), the wine became the first of the "Super Tuscan" estates to receive worldwide critical acclaim.