Sassicaia is recognized worldwide as one of the very best luxury wines from Italy. Life for Sassicaia began with the Incisa Della Rocchetta family. In the long line of the family it was Leopold that stands out, first being the Cameral Magistrate to the Imperial Royal Government of Lombardy in 1840 he retired to Rocchetta Tanaro and in a family business he cultivated his passion from viticulture. Leopold published two catalogues of luxury Italian and Foreign wines which he has collected. These books today are considered a bibliographical rarity.

The references are what a century later great grandson Mario Incisa Della Rocchetta drew inspiration from for his grafts of Bordeaux vine cuttings. He grew vines on the land of the Rocchetta and following a great deal of success on land of Bolgheri. Following the first commercialization over 40 years ago, on the Sassicaia label there was seen a family seal which dated back to the medieval times and represented the ideal testimony of the love of the Incisas family for their lands. uring the twenties as a student Mario Rocchetta had a vision of creating a luxury wine of quality and his idea was represented by the superb Bordeaux wines. It took a number of experiments with various cuttings from vines before it was decided to plant Cabernet on the San Guido estate. The first vineyard of Marios is today considered to be a cradle of Italian Cabernet. This was a wine that was composed by a French mixed vintage that represented a huge change from the Piedmontese tradition, in fact it diveresed so much that at first opinions on the wine were not good. Due to the complexity of wines obtained from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes during 1948 to 1960 Sassicaia was considered a luxury wine and only drunk on the estate. However every year a few crates were sent to the cellar to mature.

The Marquis very soon realized that given time the luxury red wine improved and what he had considered to be defects in the wine were after the maturing process excellent qualities. In 1965 two more vineyards were planted, the new vineyard, the one on the Sassicaia holding was about 100 meters above the level of the sea while the other was on ground that was higher and more exposed. Resulting from this Sassicaia was chosen as the name for the production to come from all the vineyards.

The 1968 vintage was the first luxury wine to be put on the market and was considered to be the very best receiving a welcome that was worthy of a premier Bordeaux Cru. Sassicaia was the very first Italian wine sold abroad and is recognized universally as the Father of a New Family of Italian Wines. Today the son of Marquis Mario Incisa Della Rocchetta, Nicolo, runs the San Guido estate and continues the legend.

Editorial | Image Courtesy Of Armit