2011 Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido

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ABOUT THE WINE
The history of Sassicaia began in 1944 when Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta acquired a number of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc cuttings and planted them on a stony piece of sloping hillside on his family's estate, the Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri, Tuscany. Owned by his wife's family since the 1800s, and known colloquially as Sassicaia, the place of many stones, the soils of the estate are strikingly similar to the alluvial gravel soils of the Medoc in Bordeaux. The first vintage of Sassicaia was produced in 1948 but was not released commercially until the 1968 vintage, a few thousand bottles of which were released in 1971. Commercial and critical success followed, and production has since increased significantly. In 1994 the wine was awarded its own DOC, prior to which it had to be released as Vino da Tavola the first of the Super-Tuscans.

TASTING NOTES
This an exceptionally refined and elegant wine with a bouquet of delicate sweet raspberry and pure red cherry fruits. On the palate layers of complex red forest fruits and elegant sweet herbs are balanced by seamless tannins and an energetic freshness which carries through to a very long finish. Harmonious with excellent definition and great depth of flavour, this is a magnificent wine with the potential to age for many years. A blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, with 24 months in French oak barrels,

FOOD PAIRING
Excellent with steak and rich, earthy dishes such as Beef Wellington would be an ideal dish for this wine.

FRIARWOOD SAYS
The early vintages of Sassicaia were poorly received by those critics to whom the marchese presented them as the estate had yet to get the best out of the young vines, and the wines required time to develop. More recent releases are accessible earlier, thanks to advances in viniculture and greater use of wooden barrels.