The 1970s was an interesting time for Chianti.
It was during this decade that traditionalists and innovators went to war. Not in the direct fighting sense, of course. Instead, this was more of a philosophical war about how the Italian wine industry wanted to represent itself going forward.
On the one side, you had the traditionalists. These were the people who believed that Chianti should not change for anybody. They were so rigid in their belief that they rallied against anybody who tried to make even the smallest of changes to the DOC’s guidelines on how to make this famous drink. They argued that Chianti was one of Italy’s most famous wines. To break with tradition would be to disrespect the hard work of all of the people who’d made the wine what it was.
On the other side, you had the innovators. They wanted change. The innovators wanted to make examples of Chianti that would be more accessible to foreign tongues, thus increasing sales of the drink in international territories. These innovators didn’t want to transform Chianti so completely that it would be unrecognizable. They just wanted to make versions of this famous Italian wine that were a little different from those that were currently available.
So began the rise of the Super Tuscans.
We’ve spoken about these wines before in the Xtrawine blog, so we won’t go too deep into what the Super Tuscans are here. All you need to know is that several innovative producers created Super Tuscans to demonstrate that Chianti could veer away from tradition. It was these wines that prompted the feud between traditionalists and innovators that lasted for several years.
There are many Super Tuscans, with Tignanello perhaps being the most famous.
But Sassicaia was the very first.
And in this article, we’re going to give you a brief history of this important Italian wine.
The Early History
Though the Super Tuscans are often associated with the latter half of the 20th century, the story of Sassicaia starts much earlier than that. We begin the tale in the aftermath of World War One. A man named Mario Incisa della Rocchetta enrolled in the Faculty of Agriculture in Pisa, meaning he needed to move home with his horse. Mario’s love for his horse led to him becoming involved with Pisa’s thoroughbred community, through which he met a woman named Clarice della Gherardesca.
The pair fell in love and married in 1930.
For the next couple of decades, the couple lived and worked together. But after World War Two, Clarice inherited a property that had been neglected during the wartime period. Mario took it upon himself to spruce the property up and return it to its former glory.
That property was a wine estate known as Tenuta San Guido.
Reviving the Property
Mario’s experience as an agronomist served him well as he set about reviving Tenuta San Guido. Before long, the property was growing fruits, vegetables, and a host of other farming products.
But it wasn’t long before Mario turned his attention to wine.
Having experienced several types of wine from Bordeaux, Mario turned his attention to the Sangiovese grape used in the Tuscany region. At the time, he believed that producers weren’t making the most out of the grape. He believed it had the potential to create wines of the same quality as the Bordeaux that he loved so much. And in his mind, the Chianti being produced based on DOC guidelines simply wasn’t cutting it.
His solution?
Mario decided to say to hell with the guidelines. He was going to make a new type of wine using Sangiovese that he believed would showcase the grape the way it was meant to be showcased.
The First Bottles Arrive
Sassicaia had existed for several years before Mario had his revelation. In fact, the first bottle was released all of the way back in 1945, though it bore little resemblance to the wine that Sassicaia would become.
After establishing the brand, Mario started working with an oenologist named Giacomo Tachis. Together, they worked on unlocking the secrets of the grapes used to make Bordeaux. And in the process, they developed the wine that would become the Sassicaia we know today.
The first true commercial vintage of Sassicaia came out in 1968. And just like that, a war was triggered. The wine infuriated the traditionists who believed that Mario’s innovations ran contrary to what Chianti should be. But at the same time, many believed that the new wine was a better example of what was possible with the Sangiovese grape.
Ten years later, Mario’s wine struck a big blow for the Super Tuscans. Decanter Magazine held a blind taste test of 33 red wines from 11 different countries.
A 1972 vintage of Sassicaia came out on top.
Suddenly, Sassicaia was so much more than a standard table wine. It was a real mover and shaker that nobody could deny the quality of.
The success of Sassicaia was sealed in 1985. It was this vintage of the wine that received a remarkable perfect 100/100 score from the famed wine critic Robert Parker. And with that rating came the respect the Sassicaia truly deserved as the first of the Super Tuscans. The wine, which blended 85% Sangiovese with 15% Cabernet Franc, was the peak of an innovative process that finally led to the Italian wine industry accepting Sassicaia for the brilliant wine that it is.
The Final Word
Mario worked on Sassicaia until he died in 2016.
A true innovator, Mario was not one to allow tradition to hold him back. His wine was instrumental in helping producers see that they could experiment with Sangiovese and achieve remarkable results. Mario’s work also laid the foundations for the many Super Tuscans that came later, meaning he essentially created a brand-new category of wine because he had the simple idea of trying to make wines made using Sangiovese taste more like Bordeaux.
Today, Sassicaia is one of Italy’s most beloved wines. And you can find it on the Xtrawine website, along with a host of other Super Tuscans.
I’m a passionate about good wine and good cooking.
I like to keep me updated and share with my online friends my gastronomic knowledge.
