Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido, DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, Tuscany, Italy, 2023

Grapes: 87% Cabernet Sauvignon & 13% Cabernet Franc, limestone/marl/clay soils, hand-harvested, wild yeast fermentation, 23 months' ageing in French oak barrels (40% new)

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"This 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc blend is fabulous bright in the glass with translucent cherry ruby red. The aromatics are slightly subdued and broody with hints of lavender and violets, tobacco leaf, and tilled earth. There is a real melange of red and black berry fruits with a leafy musk undertone. The palate is brighter and more accessible than the nose – generous, vibrant, and forthcoming with deliciously fine-grained chalky tannins, layers of mineral limestone intertwined with tart red cherry, red currant and sour plum. Plenty of stuffing and dry extract but made all the more overt and mouthwatering by the cool, crisp crystalline acids. This is a very polished, harmonious Sassicaia, supremely balanced and substantial, harmonious yet majestically elegant."  Drink from 2028 to 2045+

98+/100 points, Greg Sherwood MW (South Africa), February 2026

"Deep, dark, not quite opaque ruby-red in color. The nose shows lively red-fruit with notes of mint & menthol. A supple structure is married with luscious, juicy, ripe, red-cherry fruit. The wine is medium to full bodied with a concentrated mid-palate. Alcohol and acidity are both beautifully in balance. A long finish displays a delicious compote of perfumed red-fruit And concentrated rich cassis and black cherry fruit."

99/100 points, David Allen MW (UK) January 2026

"Very few vintages of this legendary Tuscan wine deliver the immediate joy, richness and complexity found in the Tenuta San Guido 2023 Bolgheri Sassicaia. Tasted both before and after its January 2026 bottling, this is a wine that feels uncannily open and generous in its youth, a rare trait for Sassicaia, which is famously inscrutable at this stage. The 2023 vintage was marked by a cold winter and above-average rainfall followed by a severe outbreak of downy mildew that damaged leaves, forcing brutal fruit selection and resulting in a 20% reduction in yields. Only the estates willing to make these sacrifices succeeded, and the best wines rank among the most compelling and elusive of recent years. The blend includes 13% to 14% Cabernet Franc alongside Cabernet Sauvignon, with the Franc playing a decisive phenolic role that reinforces elegance, linearity and brightness. Aromas unfold with wild sage, rosemary and dark fruit before moving into crushed stone minerality, rose petal and a finely spiced spectrum of pink peppercorn, nutmeg, anise, cardamom, bergamot and blood orange, joined by a delicate note of mentuccia romana, sweeter and gentler than classic mint. The palate shows beautiful softness framed by chalky tannins and mineral tension. Its acidity shines bright and guarantees long cellar aging potential. The wine remains fluid and flexible in the glass as different facets of the bouquet emerge. Like the legendary 1985, 2023 was a difficult and stressful vintage shaped by a cold winter, yet it stands as proof that great pressure can indeed give birth to diamonds."  Drink 2027-2060

100/100 points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (USA), January 2026

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.