In the 1940s, having settled with his wife Clarice on the Tenuta San Guido on the Tyrrhenian coast, Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta experimented with several French grape varieties and concluded that the Cabernet had "the bouquet I was looking for." He is the uncle of Marchese Antinori of Tignanello.
A wine made mainly from Cabernet Sauvignon was a fundamental change to the Tuscan and Piedmont tradition of Sangiovese and Nebbiolo, respectively. The innovative decision to plant this variety at Tenuta San Guido was partly due to the similarity Mario Incisa had noted between Tuscan terrain and that of Graves in Bordeaux. ‘Graves’, or ‘gravel’ in French refers to the rocky terrain which distinguishes the Bordeaux area; similarly, the gravely vineyard sites in Tuscany impart the same characteristics on Sassicaia, "stony ground", as its cherished French brother.
The vineyards planted up to 350 meters on the hills these wines have been given their own DOC, the DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia, the first, and so far only case in Italy of a DOC contained in one estate.
With its first commercialised vintage in 1968, marking the start of the now sought after Super Tuscan Blend!
