Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2009
-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
This is fantastic. Intense and super long on the palate. It's insanely complex yet subtle with so much going on, with a beautiful balance and tension. It is full and powerful with a big juicy character that goes on for minutes. Muscular yet covered with pretty fruit. Elegance with force. Hard not to drink.
-
Decanter
Some torrefied, caramel notes on the nose, this is a wine that vibrates with a beautifully held together crimson red color. On the palate, there are signs of a hot vintage, with hints of exotic fig, yet it’s shot through with fresh crushed violet notes. Can feel some sun bleaching, although again a heady sweet spice fragrance takes over. This is grilled charcoal over a roasted blackcurrant Cabernet core. And then, just as you are wondering about the exoticism of the fruit, the sweet relief of fresh mint comes slipping in on the finish. What a beautiful wine. Elegant, but packs quite a punch.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Bolgheri Sassicaia is the richest and darkest edition in recent memory. This super-charged Sassicaia boasts enormous power and concentration thanks to its impressive phenolic foundation. Black currant and blackberry confit are followed by spice, leather, tar, road paving and black truffle. It shows preliminary tertiary signs with licorice and crushed mineral. The wine wraps thickly over the palate delivering tight textural firmness and integrated structure. You taste the sweetness of the fruit and the depth of the oak tannins. No matter how you approach it, this wine scores very high on the intensity meter. For the record: Tenuta San Guido General Manager Carlo Paoli expressed concern about the integrity of his sample, but I remained extremely pleased by the gorgeous wine before me. Rating: 96(+) Points.
-
Wine Spectator
A tightly knit, dense red, full of black currant, cherry, herb and spice flavors. The tannins are aggressive now, but this is long and detailed, with an herb and spice aftertaste. A classy wine. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2014 through 2028.
-
Wine & Spirits
From the famed estate in Bolgheri, where the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rochetta first planted cabernet sauvignon in the 1940s, this is a grand vintage of Sassacaia that will need years to fully evolve. Plentiful spring rains prepared the vines for the hot summer of 2009, sustaining them with plenty of moisture in the stony, limestone-inflected soils. A portion of cabernet franc (15 percent) emphasizes the fresh tobacco and green herb scents in the blend, while the black olive flavors of young cabernet sauvignon fill out a plush, rich texture. This is silken in the middle, with acidity keeping it bright even as oak builds up in the finish. Cellar this for ten years or more to capture the vineyard’s fullest expression.
Other Vintages
2020-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine - Vinous
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
- Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
- Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
-
Spirits
Wine & - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
- Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
The Tenuta San Guido is a 7,500-acre estate located in the province of Livorno on the western coastal outskirts of Tuscany near the village of Bolgheri. Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta acquired it through his marriage to Clarice della Gherardesca in 1940.
The legacy of Sassicaia began in 1944, when Mario Incisa acquired a number of Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc vine cuttings and planted them on a sloping hillside of the San Guido estate, called Castiglioncello after the 11th-century castle at the vineyard's upper edge. This tiny, 3.75-acre vineyard stood alone until 1965, when a second Cabernet vineyard was planted with cuttings from the Castiglioncello parcel; the gravelly, 30-acre plot would give the wine its name: Sassicaia, "the place of many stones".
With the radical changes in the D.O.C. system of regulations as of the 1994 vintage, Sassicaia's extraordinary reputation was acknowledged through the Italian government's granting the wine its own appellation.
Sassicaia is today considered to be the new plus ultra of Italy's great red wines for its consistent excellence and its intuitive spirit. Acclaimed by the wine world's most respected voices, Sassicaia remains the legacy of its creator, Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, and his son, Marchese Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.