2020 Sassicaia Tenuta San Guido

The 2020 Sassicaia is a bold, rapturous wine. Dark, fleshy and expansive on the palate, the 2020 offers up scents of blackberry jam, gravel, spice, new leather, licorice and crème de cassis. Potent tannins are nearly buried by the sheer intensity of the fruit. Sassicaia is never a huge wine, the 2020 does seem to have an extra dimension of textural intensity. It's an intensity that is hugely appealing.

A very perfumed Sassicaia on the nose with forest floor, citrus and deep dark fruits. Blackcurrants. Cedar and black tea. Some balsamic. Pine needles. Full and very succulent. Really long, structured and complete. Tangy and energetic with a linear line of fresh tannins and acidity. Very Sassicaia throughout. 85% cabernet sauvignon and the rest is cabernet franc. Very attractive now in a youthful and vibrant way, but this will be better in three to four years. Try after 2027.

Frosts damaged the the earlier-developing Cabernet Franc in late March, leading to reduced production but superb quality fruit. Spring was mild and summer was generally warm, but a rapid acceleration of maturation in late summer forced the team to begin picking in the first week of September to avoid any overripeness. A traditional 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc blend, its blackcurranty, dusty, leafy and cedary character is brought into focus by an intense and balsamic palate. It's poised and light on its feet with super-fresh acidity and a fine-grained, almost imperceptible tannic structure. Ripe and tangy raspberry and blueberry fruits linger on the mid-palate, leading to a long, fresh finish with some cream and chocolate notes. This will reward cellaring into the 2050s, yet you'll get plenty of pleasure from it in its youth. 'We advise to keep it at least 10 months in the bottle before opening,' states third-generation Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta.

The Tenuta San Guido 2020 Bolgheri Sassicaia speaks to those who seek a more voluptuous, opulent and, ultimately, more accessible wine. This vintage is a precise reflection of Coastal Tuscany, as opposed to a more generic "Tuscan" wine from elsewhere in this large central Italian region. You taste the ripeness and soft fruit weight that comes from a coastal appellation with especially bright luminosity and warm Mediterranean offshore breezes. Sassicaia from the cool vintages is a famously reticent or withholding wine in its earliest years, requiring a long lead time before it eases into an ideal drinking window. That's definitely not the case here. This wine is beautiful and compelling straight out of the gate, showing a lovely mix of dark fruit, oak spice, balanced freshness, textural richness, soft tannins and an expertly contained 14% alcohol content. The wine's immediate character is what distinguishes this vintage, and I wouldn't get too fussed by exaggerated cellar-aging ambitions. The wine awards sheer pleasure in its current form, with dazzling primary fruit and soaring intensity over the near and medium term.

98P+

The 2020 Sassicaia is a very interesting wine that combines power and flesh on one side, and freshness and lift on the other like hardly any other recent vintage of Sassicaia I can think of. There are elements of the 2018 (easygoing, approachable already when young, plenty of early drinking charm) and of the 2017 (noteworthy ripeness and flesh) but ultimately the 2020 is like no other young Sassicaia I can think of. It’s deceptively easy to drink now, but has so much almost jagged freshness that it really needs to lie in a good cellar for a decade or so such that it harmonizes and reaches a more balanced drinking stage. For sure, it is always going to be a more approachable, readier to drink Sassicaia that will be good to go while your say 2015s or 2016s rest in your cellar. Deep ruby-purple colour: this is one of the darker more saturated young Sassicaias in recent memory. Very ripe aromas and flavours of dark cherry, plum jam, Mediterranean herbs, coffee, truffle and minerals are initially very thick and obvious, then gain elegance and refinement in the middle and on the long finish thanks to bright but youthfully spiky acidity. Suavely tannic and multilayered, this needs a good decade to harmonize fully and achieve optimal tannin/sugar/acid balance; not at all short of extract or of colour, this bigger-boned Sassicaia nonetheless maintains plenty of lift and freshness and will require some patience to come fully into its own. A clear-cut example of a red wine where having a little patience will have its rewards.

The 2020 Sassicaia is simply brilliant and beautifully put together, possessing all the components needed to ultimately become a truly classic vintage for this legendary wine. As this begins to unwind in the glass, it releases gorgeous aromatics of pure dark cherries and blackberries, which take on additional nuances of freshly cut spring flowers, spices, crushed stones, mint and a touch of balsam, which are impossible to resist. This continues to impress on the palate with its beautiful refined texture, striking finesse and outstanding overall balance. It remains incredibly fresh, focused and precise, as it makes an elegant transition into the tapered finish that lingers effortlessly. Today, this is only beginning to express itself and there is no doubt this will be an age worthy vintage of Sassicaia that will continue to take on additional characteristics over time and go on to flourish in the cellar for decades to come.

Complex aromas and flavors of black currant, blackberry, iron, sweet tobacco and Mediterranean herbs are the hallmarks of this elegant, tensile red, which is already revealing plenty, yet still feels reserved, as though there were many more facets to be discovered. Superb harmony, freshness and a long aftertaste prevail. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2045.

Pure red with a garnet hue, the 2020 Sassicaia is stunning, with fantastic, elegantly layered aromas of black raspberry liqueur, macchia, fresh leather, and fresh lavender. Full-bodied with clean lift, it reveals a more luxurious and polished texture with a velvety feel, a long finish, and a touch of warming richness. As it opens, it reveals notes of mocha and Amarena cherry and becomes distilled and pure with wonderful sweetness of fruit, although it’s fully dry. It has a great finish and is very appealing throughout.