An
Italian Icon
Bloomberg Markets
September, 2005
by Elin McCoy
"Sassicaia
was born out of my grandfather's vision," says Piero Incisa della
Rocchetta, the 37-year-old descendant of the founder of one of the
world's most-prized cabernet sauvignon estates, Tenuta San Guido.
"And that vision hasn't changed," he adds, alluding to the
wine's reputation for consistent greatness.
For decades, this cabernet blend has been Italy's most in-demand collectible,
and despite a price of more than $100 a bottle, each year's production
sells out to the global trade within 15 minutes of release. Two reasons,
of course, are the wine's distinctive taste and ability to age…
Part of Sassicaia's success is due to the fact that it's run by a
family able to treat it as a passion, much the way the Rothschilds
run Château Lafit-Rothschild. They're not financially dependent
on it, so, as Piero Incisa puts it, "we don't have to please
the market." In other words, there's no pressure to alter the
winemaking to suit shifting taste fashions.
That stylistic consistency hasn't always been appreciated. "A
few years ago, over-extracted, overalcoholic wines-of-the-moment were
getting all the attention, and some uninformed types claimed Sassicaia
was getting lighter," says Sergio
Esposito, principal partner of New York's Italian
Wine Merchants. "Sassicaia hasn't changed at all."
He should know; he drank his first bottle of it in Italy at the age
of 19 (he's now 37) and has tasted every vintage many times. In the
shop's small private dining room, we shared the 1999 and '82 over
antipasti, pasta, skirt steak and cheese. Esposito doesn't believe
in tasting great Sassicaia without food.
Esposito had opened the '82 four hours before because, he says, "the
older the bottle, the earlier you must decant."
The dark, intense '99 was the match with the steak, but the '82 showed
just how grandly Sassicaia ages. "First you taste cabernet,"
Esposito says. "The sensual Italian flavors come through. You
can't define it." It seemed in no immediate danger of decline.
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