The Original Super Tuscan: The Sassicaia Story
– Tuscany's rebel wines broke the mold
Many European wine regions went through a low-quality, high-volume phase post World War II. Italy was no different. The Italian wine laws did nothing to encourage quality. This resulted in producers choosing to plant high yielding clones and disregarding the importance of proper vineyard site selection. But starting in the 1970’s, there was a shift in Tuscany which led to a focus on quality and increased price. One of the contributors to this shift is a wine called Sassicaia, the original Super Tuscan wine.
This is the Super Tuscans story I promised you a few weeks ago in the “Italian ‘B’ Places Post”.
The “B” place in question?
Bolgheri, – near a small town of the same name in the Mediterranean coastal portion of Tuscany, about 100 km southwest of Florence.
Bolgheri is an area with human activity dating back to the 12th century B.C. It was one of the first areas in Europe with grape vines cultivated by the Etruscans. In the late 1600s, the Della Gherardesca family, who had been in the area since 1000 A.D., planted the first vineyard in modern history around their two estates named San Guido and Belvedere.
This story’s main character?
Marchese Mario Incisa Della Rocchetta whose family comes from Rome and Piedmonte in the northwestern Italy.
Okay, there are just a bunch of long family names. Do they all link up somehow?
In 1930, Mario married Countess Clarice Della Gherardesca from the historic Bolgheri family. The same year, her sister Carlotta married Marchese Niccolo Antinori (of the famed Antinori wine family). Bolgheri’s largest estate was partitioned between the two sets of newlyweds, with Clarice and Mario inheriting the San Guido Estate, and Carlotta and Niccolo the Belvedere Estate.
Let us have Mario tell us the story through a letter he wrote to the wine critic Luigi Veronelli in 1974.
Luigi had asked to taste the Sassicaia wine and was sent 2 bottles. Mario wrote a follow up letter to give him the Sassicaia story and to invite him to the winery to taste vintages as far back as 1950.
You got your facts wrong, sista, … the first Sassicaia vintage was 1968!! Who has the fancy training! Gosh!
The 1968 Sassicaia was the first vintage to be released to the market in the early 1970s. But it is not its first vintage for personal use. This is perhaps the most interesting part of the story.
Here is an abridged and paraphrased version of the Mario’s letter to Luigi:
“As a student in Pisa from 1921-1925 I was often a guest of the Salviati Dukes in Migliarino and tasted wine from their vineyard on Mount Vecchiano in Tuscany. The bouquet reminded me of old Bordeaux I had sampled with my grandfather in Rome as a teenager.
To confirm my adolescent memory, I later sought out fine vintage French wines, including a 1924 Margaux. The same bouquet struck me! From that moment, I set forth to make wine with those qualities.
When I permanently settled in Bolgheri I began vineyard site selection. My Father, of Piedmontese roots, said any place but Bolgheri!” (Bolgheri’s rep was horrible at the time!)
He ignored his father!… (thank goodness!)
“I planted Cabernet including several shoots from the same Vecchiano vineyard at the Salviati winery. But every year – come March following harvest (when, here, wine is deemed ready and drinkable), local land agents and experts all rated the wine as “disgusting.”
Humiliated and confused I abandoned making more Cabernet and I literally forgot about the bottles. Instead, I settled on the Italian indigenous grape, Canaiolo of which I cellared 100 bottles of the 1945 vintage. Tasting the wine after 15 years, it was excellent, after 20 years it was very good; and I still consider it good now.
It is at this point that I remembered the earlier Cabernet. I started drinking it and timidly started offering it to friends. The reaction was so positive it led my nephew Piero to encourage me to allow him to sell and market it.”
By early the 1970s his nephew, Piero Antinori (current honorary president of Antinori Wine and the son of Carlotta and Niccolo), did just that, releasing the Sassicaia 1968 vintage to the commercial market, which led to Luigi’s interest.
Because the Bolgheri sub-region did not exist yet, Sassicaia had to be labelled as table wine, or Vino da Tavola. Vino da Tavola is typically reserved for simple wines. But the Sassicaia was not a simple wine nor was it sold at simple wine prices.
So, what happens when things don’t fit?
We give them a name.
Enter: Super Tuscan.
“Super Tuscan describes superior quality red wines from Tuscany that often include non-indigenous grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot that are not protected by a sub-region wine law.” – Bolgheri DOC sub-region website
Shortly afterwards, Antinori released their own Super Tuscan with their 1st vintage of 1971 Tignanello made with predominantly Sangiovese, along with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grown in vineyards in the Chianti Classico sub-region.
Okay, question. Why would a Chianti Classico be called a Super Tuscan?
Even though Sangiovese is the required dominant grape of the Chianti Classico sub-region, the remaining blend of grapes must be indigenous Italian grapes, which Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot are not. This means although the Tignanello blend consists of Sangiovese as the main grape, and they are grown in the Chianti Classico geographical boundaries, it did not (and still does not) qualify to be labelled Chianti Classico. Additionally, traditional large wooden casks were not used for ageing, but rather French barrels.
Soon after, more Super Tuscans were born. The Antinori family first produced Solaia with the 1978 vintage from the same vineyard as Tignanello, but with a Cabernet Sauvignon as the dominant grape and the rest being Cabernet Franc. Eventually they introduced Sangiovese in equal parts to the Cabernet Franc at 15% each.
Next came more Bolgheri Super Tuscans from Podere Grattamacco, Le Macchiole and the two wineries that were developed on Carlotta’s Della Gherardesca Belvedere Estate, namely Tenuta Ornellaia and Guado al Tasso, allocated to her two sons Lodovico and Piero respectively.
Finally, in 1994 the Bolgheri sub-region wine laws were amended to allowed wines that fit the Super Tuscan model, with up to 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and/or Merlot and up to 50% Syrah (all French grapes). They only allowed Italian grape is up to 50% Sangiovese.
A subzone was even created called Bolgheri Sassicaia which is reserved for grapes grown within de Della Gherardesca San Guido Estate. (The Bolgheri Sassicaia subzone eventually became its own sub-region, with somewhat different restrictions - minimum of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2 years minimum ageing (18 months must be in oak barrels).)
An investment frenzy in Bolgheri ensued, resulting in a 400% increase in plantings of non-Italian grape varieties from the end of the 1990s to 2010, and bringing to the region the likes of Angelo Gaja, Ambrogio and Giovanni Folonari , Berlucchi , Girolamo Guicciardini Strozzi, and Allegrini.
Super Tuscans don’t need to come from Bolgheri. So how come the others didn’t get a sub-region?
As of 1992, Super Tuscan producers can label their wine Toscana IGT (Indication Geografica Tipica). This category was not created for Super Tuscans per se, but it is a higher category than Vino da Tavola (a category eventually shortened to simply Vino). Practically speaking this means this category is for all of Tuscany, with more grapes and styles allowed. This means most Toscana IGT wines are inexpensive to mid-priced, but this category can also include some of the most sought after and expensive wines, including Super Tuscans. For example, Tignanello and Solaia from Antinori are both labelled Toscana IGT.
What can expect a Bolgheri Super Tuscan to taste like? I am salivating!
These full body wines tend to be higher in intensity with flavors of blackberry and red plum, vanilla and sweet spice. They typically have high tannins and are of very good to outstanding quality.
Farnito Carpineto 2017 (IGT) from Tuscany, Italy
Style: Old World Full Body Red
Varieties: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
This savory earthy-driven wine with red plum and pie filling red cherries,black cherry, black currant and blackberry flavors with complexity of vanilla, cinnamon, cedar, tobacco, malt and nuts. It has high very grippy tannins and a persistent finish.
Best pairings: This wine screams red meat such as: Steak Florentine, Grilled Ribeye, or a Thick-Cut Filet Mignon, or Hearty Braised Lamb Shanks. Otherwise, Savory Mushroom Risotto, Aged and Hard Cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano or Aged Cheddar.
Serving Temperature: 18 degrees Celsius
Price: ~$40 (incl. Shades of Grape 15% discount & 5% gst)
Serving Tips: This one would benefit from cellaring to allow for further tannin integration. Otherwise plan to decant for 3 hours minimum.
I have compiled all my relevant wine recommendations in one place. I will do my best to keep this up to date. This version also has links on where to find the wines in Alberta. I also include the link(s) to the article in which the wine was featured.
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SOURCES:
History | Bolgheri Doc. Available at: https://www.bolgheridoc.com/en/history/ (Accessed: 19 March 2024).
History - tenuta san guido (no date) History - Tenuta San Guido. Available at: https://www.tenutasanguido.com/en/history (Accessed: 18 March 2024).
The history of Sassicaia in a historical letter by Mario Incisa della Rocchetta (2021) Firenze Made in Tuscany - Enjoy the best of Florence: events, culture, art, style and place (3). Available at: https://www.firenzemadeintuscany.com/en/article/the-history-of-sassicaia-in-a-historical-letter-by-mario-incisa-della/ (Accessed: 18 March 2024).
Le intuizioni di un uomo, La Nascita di un Mito (no date) Bibenda. Available at: https://www.bibenda.it/news_bibenda_singola.php?id=1725 (Accessed: 18 March 2024).
Robinson, J. (2015) The oxford companion to wine. 4th rev. ed. Corby: Oxford University Press.
Marchesi Incisa della Rocchetta Winery (no date) Wines and accommodations. Available at: http://www.marchesiincisawines.com/ (Accessed: 18 March 2024).
Wine & Spirit Education Trust (2021) D3: Wines of the World - An accompaniment to the WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines. Version 1.2. London: Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Wines (no date) Futuro Antico. Available at: https://www.antinori.it/en/wines/ (Accessed: 18 March 2024).
I have recommened this to my readers on https://thomashorgan.substack.com/p/the-great-wine-book/comments
Great article. I have been privileged to be able to drink many vintages early on when the prices were reasonable, including 3 bottles of the great 1985. Also had the honor to attend a tasting at the winery. Still have a few bottles in my cellar.