“Who here doesn’t know Tenuta San Guido?”
Armit Wines MD Brett Fleming’s opening question was met with silence from the assembled tasters in 67 Pall Mall’s St James’s room, save for a few chuckles. If anyone didn’t know who the maker of Sassicaia was, they were unlikely to admit it in front of those who did.
Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta and Armit MD Brett Fleming at the worldwide launch of Sassicaia 2022, London, February 5, 2025
There is arguably no more important winery in Italy than Tenuta San Guido. To describe it as a Bolgheri icon is to undersell it; the estate’s revolutionary Sassicaia is the reason Bolgheri exists at all. It drives the fine wine market for the nation and represents not just Tenuta San Guido, or even Bolgheri, but all of Italy on the world stage.
“It's a very important moment of the year,” Priscilla acknowledges, admitting that “every time I'm a little bit nervous.” In fact, nervous energy runs through the room. As we take our seats there is an obvious sense of anticipation around the newest vintage of Sassicaia, which is always shown first in London.
Yet it is a credit to Tenuta San Guido that the 2022 wasn’t presented with the curious mix of euphemism and hyperbole that has become so familiar with en primeur-style tastings. If anything, Priscilla seemed more interested in discovering what the assembled tasters’ feedback was on the 2022 than in delivering a well-rehearsed set-piece on the vintage packed with quotable soundbites.
Reflecting on the 2022 vintage
A combination of the estate’s high-altitude vineyards and relatively early picking kept the final wine to a distinctly modest 13.5% abv
Priscilla characterised 2022 as “warm towards the end of the growing season,”noting that the estate had to start harvesting Cabernet Sauvignon at the beginning of September. Carlo Paoli, operations director since 2009, was quoted in the accompanying notes saying 2022 “was neither easy nor generous, but the quality of the grapes exceeded expectations.” With acidities higher than in 2021 and alcohols lower, the 2022 vintage has rather defied expectations, and might just turn out to be one of the strongest vintages of recent years.
Following the 2021 harvest the late autumn was initially cool and wet, followed by a cold November and a wet winter that replenished the water table. Spring began with higher-than-usual temperatures before dropping suddenly, reducing the number of buds and naturally lowering the yields. The summer was characterised by intense heat and drought until rains arrived in mid-August. Lower-altitude vineyards of Cabernet Sauvignon were harvested in early September, with the harvest concluded by the end of the month in the hillsides of Vigna di Castiglioncello.
Less orthodox, perhaps, than the longer, later harvests of 2021 and 2019, a combination of the estate’s high-altitude vineyards and relatively early picking kept the final wine to a distinctly modest 13.5%. The August rains were a decisive factor in allowing the grapes to mature properly in the later part of the growing season, as is often the case in contemporary Bolgheri.
In terms of winemaking, time in oak was also reduced by a month or two in order to foreground the fruit, while skin macerations were shortened. Finally, the Cabernet Franc proportion was lowered, as the fruit was slightly stressed at the end of the growing season compared to Cabernet Sauvignon, which fared better under the conditions.
Sassicaia 2022: tasting notes
Opened and decanted two hours prior to tasting, the Sassicaia 2022 is a blend of 88% Cabernet Sauvignon and 12% Cabernet Franc, with 13-18 days of maceration on the skins and 23 months in medium toast French barriques, around 40% of which are new.
Opening with a generous nose of ripe, vibrant red fruits, the 2022 shows remarkable freshness and energy, with the only clue to the hot vintage being the saturated, vivid tone of those fruits, an expressive combination of ripe plum, red cherry and a touch of freshly-picked hedgerow blackberry. The acidity is on point, the tannins are firm and fine but pliable, and the 13.5% alcohol is discreet.
Confident and pure, this reflects the best qualities of a warm vintage while avoiding the excesses, transcending varietal clichés to produce something singularly and enigmatically brilliant.
A look at previous vintages
Many might have chosen not to show a 100-point vintage immediately alongside an unscored new release, but not Tenuta San Guido or its UK agent, Armit, who generously poured the celebrated 2021, as well as the 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017 for the assembled tasters.
Of the older vintages, all demonstrated how transparently and honestly Sassicaia reflects the character of the year through meticulous viticulture and adaptive harvesting and winemaking approaches.
Sassicaia 2021
The garlanded 2021 was extremely fine, although some tasters found it a little closed on the day. Even the modest Priscilla described the season as “perfect” and “one of the best vintages.” The extreme finesse of the structure was evident, with fine tannins and exquisite acidity providing a frame for a complex interplay of red berry and blackcurrant fruit, with glimpses of cedar and liquorice and a touch of cocoa powder from the Cabernet Franc component, which was typical this year at 15%. Juicy and lively, the 2021 impresses with its sense of energy and definition. It’s a benchmark, orthodox Sassicaia. 14% abv
Sassicaia 2020
The Covid vintage was a contrast to those shown on either side of it, being more succulent, open and accessible, temptingly ready to broach and enjoy. “It wasn’t obvious that the vintage would work out smoothly,” Priscilla reflected. “It was a very fast harvest.” Dark-fruited and fleshy, with some chocolate, sweet spice, toast and juicy blackberry fruit, this also shows some open, upfront, grainy tannins. 14% abv
Sassicaia 2019
The other celebrated vintage of the last decade, the 2019 Sassicaia showed everything that makes the vintage so alluring in Bolgheri. If the 2021 is about structure and classical form, the 2019 is more opulent, deep and hedonistic. The telltale balsam notes of the vintage were strongly present, and the palate offers a controlled richness, plush, smooth tannins and a glamorous, glycerolly thickness of texture that rolls across the palate. An easy rival to the 2021, this is nonetheless markedly different in terms of expression, with a mesmerising profundity which is impossible to resist. 14% abv
Sassicaia 2018
A cooler, more moderate vintage that displayed its credentials transparently in the glass, this was beautifully open and juicy with an attractive levity and charm. Slender and perfumed, this showed evidence of adaptive winemaking to allow the more delicate character of the vintage to come through clearly. Red cherry, blood orange, even a touch of strawberry here, with appetising bite on the palate. 13.5% abv
Sassicaia 2017
Like 2022, this was a hot and dry vintage, but unlike 2022, this Sassicaia showed more obviously the heat of the year with some dried date and beef stock notes overlaying the ripe black fruit and potent, grainy tannins, but there is still impressive balance between the elements.
Le Difese: a glimpse of 2023
Presented alongside Sassicaia, Le Difese offered a preview of the 2023 vintage. The first of three labels from San Guido, which also includes Guidalberto, Le Difese forms “the base of the pyramid,” as Priscilla describes it.
Unsurprisingly, 2023 was a harvest that Priscilla described as ‘challenging.’ The struggles of Italy’s growers were well reported, with peronospera (downy mildew) running rampant through vineyards across the country in the summer, following a rainy spring. That is where San Guido’s team of three agronomists and 120 vineyard workers came to the rescue. A full-time presence throughout the season, they were able to work constantly among the vines, improving aeration and mitigating the damage from mildew.
Le Difese is a wine that often includes a significant percentage of declassified Cabernet Sauvignon that didn’t quite make the grade for Sassicaia, while the Sangiovese component, importantly, comes from outside Bolgheri, being sourced from Chianti Montespertoli and Chianti Rufina. The peronospera problems of 2023 were more pronounced in central Tuscany than in Bolgheri, which was protected somewhat by the aeration of maritime breezes, so the proportion of Sangiovese is slightly lower than usual due to difficulties in sourcing sufficient quality fruit.
Le Difese 2023
A blend of 65% Sangiovese and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon with brisk acidity, blueberry and raspberry fruit and a mouthwatering, assertive structure, this is tactile, perfumed and refreshing. Priscilla notes that it's different from 2022, “which was more about aromas and freshness. The 2023 has much more structure, given by the fact that the proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon is a bit higher than normal.”
Medium-weight and taut, this is aged in second and third use oak barriques formerly used for Guidalberto. It has been bottled as IGT Toscana since the label’s inception in 2002. 13.5%
The latest vintage of San Guido’s Guidalberto was not shown at this tasting. The 2023 is due to be launched in March 2025 at a separate event, as it is not yet bottled.
Pricing and availability
The 2022 vintage of Sassicaia will be released by Armit on Thursday, 13 February. It will be available to taste at Armit’s portfolio tasting on Tuesday 11 March, as well as alongside other Bolgheri 2022s at the Bolgheri Anteprima, held at 67 Pall Mall on Wednesday 26 February. The wine is expected to land in the UK in early May.
Enquiries regarding allocations should be directed to trade@armitwines.co.uk.
Armit is a commercial partner of The Buyer. For more information please click here.
