2017 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia IGT Bolgheri, Tuscany

Aromas of exotic spice, baked plum and French oak mingle with camphor and blue flower on the nose. This boasts extraordinary elegance and freshness despite the hot vintage, delivering flavors of juicy Marasca cherry, spiced blueberry, tobacco and licorice. Velvety, fine-grained tannins provide support while coffee and crushed mint linger on the finish. Drink 2022–2032.

97 points Kerin O’Keefe wineenthusiast.com

Bright, rich ruby red. Intense and clearly defined nose, aromas of blackberries and cassis, some cardamom. Has real drive on the palate, plentiful juicy fruit, layered tannins, fine herbal spice on the saline finish.

97 points falstaff.com

The balance and beauty to this is impressive, offering sweet, ripe currants and flowers with some crushed-stone and dry-earth undertones. Full-bodied with soft, polished tannins and a long, creamy-textured finish. It’s polished, yet concentrated. Better after 2022, but already very seductive.

96 points jamessuckling.com.au May 2020

2017 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia IGT Bolgheri, Tuscany, is one of Italy’s most iconic wines and a defining benchmark for Cabernet based reds outside Bordeaux. Sassicaia was born from the vision of Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc at Tenuta San Guido in the 1940s, long before Bolgheri was recognised as a fine wine region. Inspired by the great wines of the Médoc, he believed the gravel rich soils and maritime climate along the Tuscan coast could produce something extraordinary. Today the estate is led by the Incisa della Rocchetta family, with winemaking overseen by Carlo Paoli, continuing a legacy that changed Italian wine forever. Sassicaia remains the only wine in Italy with its own dedicated DOC, yet it proudly carries the IGT Bolgheri designation as a reminder of its revolutionary roots.

The vineyards sit close to the Tyrrhenian Sea, where cooling coastal breezes moderate the warm Tuscan sun and allow long, even ripening. The soils are stony and gravelly with limestone elements, echoing classic Left Bank terroir and perfectly suited to Cabernet varieties. The 2017 vintage was warm and dry, resulting in a Sassicaia of remarkable concentration, yet the estate’s meticulous vineyard work preserved balance and freshness. In the glass, the wine shows a deep ruby colour with youthful intensity. Aromas are layered and complex, opening with blackcurrant, blackberry and dark cherry, followed by graphite, cedar, dried herbs and subtle tobacco. On the palate it is powerful yet poised, with dense cassis fruit, finely grained tannins and a long, seamless finish that carries notes of spice, earth and sea air. Despite its structure, there is elegance throughout, a hallmark of great Sassicaia.

This is a wine built for the long haul, capable of cellaring comfortably for twenty to thirty years, evolving toward truffle, leather and savoury complexity while retaining its core of dark fruit. It is superb alongside roast beef, venison, lamb with rosemary, or rich Tuscan dishes where depth and structure matter. Even now, with careful decanting, it offers immense pleasure, but patience will be richly rewarded. A true collector’s wine, the 2017 Sassicaia stands as a powerful expression of Bolgheri terroir and one of the great modern classics of Italian wine.