My Article: 2013 Sassicaia Shines

Sassicaia seems to be on a roll at the moment. I tasted the soon-to-be released 2013 twice this week – once at the winery and once in Miami at Quality Meats restaurant (I brought a bottle from Italy) – and both were superb. The 2013 seems to be a remix of the fantastic 2009 with fantastic structure and depth. I am impressed with the tannin structure of the 2013, which shows a firm and chewy mouthfeel yet an ever-so-polished texture. This is a Sassicaia with a big future. It’s clearly better than the excellent 2012 released last year. 

I spoke to the owner of Tenuta San Guido, which makes Sassicaia on the Bolgheri coast in Tuscany, about the great quality of the 2013, and Nicolo Incisa della Rocchetta said, “We didn’t have a very hot year and we had plenty of rain. We had lot of difference in temperature each day during the growing seasons – hot during the day and cool at night. It was really a perfect grape growing season. We picked early but the harvest was long and we could pick when we wanted.” 

Here is my tasting note for the 2013 Tenuta San Guido Bolgheri-Sassicaia Sassicaia. 

I tasted the 2012 along side the 2013, and the 2013 has more depth and structure. The 2012 is really delicious to taste now. I gave it the same rating as last year. 

I also tasted barrel samples of the 2014 and 2015. The 2014 was surprisingly delicious considering the cold and wet weather during the key parts of the growing season that vintage. I thought it was going to be a wash-out. Granted, it is less structured and more delicate on the palate than other more recent years, but it’s going to be an outstanding quality bottle. It’s nothing like the weak 2002, another cool and wet vintage. The 2015 could be potentially one of the best Sassicaias in decades, and underlines the fantastic grape-growing season in Europe last year.