The last bottle of 1968 Sassicaia at Arden Fine Wines.
Sassicaia was a groundbreaker when the 1968 vintage came on the market in the early 1970s.
It was created by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, a Piemontese vine-grower who in 1943 moved to the Tenuta San Guido estate his wife had inherited at Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast.
It is half-true that Sassicaia was the first “Super Tuscan”: the 1968 was contemporaneous with Enzo Morganti’s all-Sangiovese Vigorello.
But Sassicaia was certainly the first barrique-aged wine of Italy and the first great Italian Cabernet.
In those days, the wine produced was not offered commercially but consumed by friends and family or sold privately to acquaintances.
But the reputation, especially of the aged wine, grew, and in 1970 Mario’s son Nicolò managed to persuade his father to call in the professionals in the form of their Antinori cousins.
When winemaker Giacomo Tachis arrived on secondment from Antinori in 1971, he found the 1968 still in barrel.
My former colleague and old friend Nicolas Belfrage, Master of Wine, visited Tenuta San Guido in 2005.
The original idea was to taste the 1968, but it transpired that only one bottle remained…
So the 1985 was offered instead, and – as Nick put it – “gratefully accepted” 🍷.
The bottle shown here was sold recently by Arden Fine Wines.
We are not aware of any more bottles being available…
PS Please have a look at our new website at www.ArdenFineWines.com.
