Sassicaia
⏳ Drinking Window
2026 - 2048
🍷 Vintage Profile
The 2018 growing season in Bolgheri stood in marked contrast to the preceding drought year, characterized by a rainy spring and cooler temperatures that demanded meticulous canopy management to mitigate mildew pressure across the maritime vineyards. A warm, balanced summer followed, punctuated by diurnal temperature fluctuations and sporadic late-August rains that prolonged the vegetative cycle and allowed both Cabernet varieties to achieve physiological ripeness without excess sugar accumulation. The resulting profile emphasizes classical restraint, lively natural acidity, and refined, crystalline tannins over overt power, presenting aromatic clarity of redcurrant, bay leaf, and crushed stone. Revered on the secondary market as a transparent, traditionally proportioned vintage, this 2018 is entering its primary drinking window in 2026 and possesses the structural equilibrium to evolve through 2045.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted rack of lamb, wild boar ragu with pappardelle, aged Pecorino Toscano cheese
✨ Technical Specifications
The 2018 Sassicaia is a blend of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, sourced from estate vineyards in the Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC. The terroir is characterized by stony, limestone-rich soils with clay and gravel, situated at elevations ranging from 100 to 300 meters above sea level. The 2018 growing season was cooler and wetter in the spring, followed by a warm, dry summer with significant diurnal temperature variations in late summer, yielding an elegant and balanced wine. The wine was aged for 24 months in French oak barriques (approximately one-third new) and refined in the bottle prior to release.
🍾 About the Producer
Situated along the Tyrrhenian coast in the Tuscan Maremma, Tenuta San Guido is the birthplace of the modern Super Tuscan phenomenon. Founded when Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta recognized an affinity between Bolgheri’s gravelly soils and Bordeaux's Graves, the estate planted its first Cabernet vines near Castiglioncello di Bolgheri in 1944. Sassicaia remained a strictly private family vintage until its historic commercial debut with the 1968 vintage. Spanning roughly 2,500 hectares of biodiverse woodlands, wildlife sanctuaries, and thoroughbred pastures, only approximately 100 hectares are under vine. The vineyards thrive under maritime breezes and intense light, rooted in stony, limestone- and clay-rich alluvial terraces. Crafted predominantly from Cabernet Sauvignon alongside Cabernet Franc and aged in French oak barriques, Sassicaia achieved the unprecedented distinction of its own standalone single-estate appellation, DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia. Alongside Guidalberto and Le Difese, the estate's benchmark reds are celebrated worldwide for their aristocratic structure, savory cassis and cedar aromatics, and extraordinary cellar longevity.
🍇 Grapes
Cabernet Sauvignon (85%), Cabernet Franc (15%)
🍷 ABV
13.5% - 14.0%