Tenuta San Guido is an Italian

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

producer in the DOC Bolgheri in Toscana, known as a producer of "Super Tuscan" wine. It produces Sassicaia, a

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

-style red wine. The estate also produces a second wine, Guidalberto, and a third wine, Le Difese. Tenuta San Guido is member of the Primum Familiae Vini.

History

Tenuta San Guido was established by marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who was also co-owner of the race horse Ribot. Considered the seminal " Super Tuscan", the name Sassicaia ( Italian ''sasso'' meaning "stone", indicating a stony field) originated in 1948 when first produced by Incisa della Rocchetta using Cabernet Sauvignon vines and for years only used for family consumption. A story about these vines being sourced from Château Lafite-Rothschild was dismissed by Mario's son, Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta, as the vineyard was planted from "cuttings from 50-year-old vines from a friend's estate near

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

". Though for years Sassicaia remained the marchese's personal wine, his son Nicolò and nephew Piero Antinori convinced him to release it commercially, starting with the 1968 vintage, which was unveiled in 1971. Initially, there were only a few thousand bottles available, but those created a demand for more. Mario Incisa della Rocchetta hired consulting enologist Giacomo Tachis to further refine the wine while increasing production. At a 1978 '' Decanter'' tasting of "great clarets", a panel including Hugh Johnson, Serena Sutcliffe and Clive Coates awarded the 1972 Sassicaia first place over a field of 33 wines from 11 countries. In 1994 Sassicaia was granted its own DOC (Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC), the only wine from a single estate in Italy to enjoy this privilege. Before that, and in similarity to other wines made outside the traditional DOC/DOCG regulations, Sassicaia was classified as an

Indicazione geografica tipica ''Indicazione geografica tipica'' () is the third of four classification of wine, classifications of wine recognized by the government of Italy. Created to recognize the unusually high quality of the class of wines known as Italian wine#Super Tus ...

(IGT). Initially it was a Vino da tavola.

Production

Tenuta San Guido cultivates fruit from several plots around Bolgheri, extending , with a grape variety distribution of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15%

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

. The annual production is approximately 180,000 bottles. The second wine, Guidalberto, was introduced in 2000. Its first vintage was composed of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40%

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

and 20% Sangiovese. Newer vintages do not contain any Sangiovese. The wine has an annual production of 150,000 bottles. The most recently added wine, Le Difese, is composed of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese, with an annual production of 120,000 bottles.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:San Guido, Tenuta Wineries of Italy Primum Familiae Vini