2020 - Sassicaia, Tenuta San Guido, Bolgheri

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.Estate Manager Carlo Paoli describes 2020 as a year with a long, rainy winter and a cold spring. "Temperatures warmed up in the middle of June," he explained. "July was very hot, but heat moderated in August. Even so, it was a year in which ripeness moved quickly, as opposed to 2021 when ripeness was more gradual. We picked the entire estate in 22 days instead of the 29-30 that is more typical." The 2020 spent 15-18 days on the skins, followed by 25 months in French oak, 50% new. Production is down about 30% because of selection in the vineyard.

Both gourmet and restrained, and like all great wines there is a sense of contrast, of being enveloped by what is happening on your tastebuds while also being woken up by a lick of fresh acidities. Grilled butterscotch on the nose, with balsamic, fleshy raspberry and blackberry fruits, roses, olive pit, baking spice, rosemary, red liqourice, such a stunning, concentrated core, very different to the 2019 in character, both exceptional. Carlo Paoli director, 50% new oak for ageing after a cool spring then hot mid summer and end of season.