Sassicaia 2016

A Bordeaux dream in the Maremma

Mario Incisa della Rocchetta was born in Rome in 1899 to a Piedmontese family and studied agriculture in Pisa. In 1930 he married Clarice della Gherardesca, whose family's land ran from the hill fortress of Castiglioncello down to the dunes and marshes of the Tuscan coast near Bolgheri. The couple moved to the Maremma in the early 1940s. The estate today covers about 2,500 hectares, of which only a small part is vineyard.

The coast around Bolgheri was known then for light, simple wine meant to be drunk young. Mario wanted something like the Bordeaux he admired. He saw a resemblance between his gravelly, stony soils and the Graves region of Bordeaux, and after experimenting with French varieties he concluded that Cabernet 'has the bouquet I have been searching for.' The name Sassicaia comes from the Italian 'sasso,' stone, for the stony field.

In 1944 he planted his first Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard, just over one hectare at about 400 meters near Castiglioncello di Bolgheri, using cuttings from the Salviati family's estate at Migliarino, near Pisa. A story that the vines came from Chateau Lafite-Rothschild was dismissed by his son Nicolo, who said they were cuttings from a friend's estate near Pisa. The estate says the first planting also included Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo and white grapes, and that selection toward Cabernet alone happened between 1960 and 1968.

From family table to the market

From 1945 to 1967 Sassicaia was a strictly private wine, poured for family and friends. Early vintages, aged in small Slovenian oak barrels, came out hard and tannic and needed years in bottle; much of the wine was drunk at home or forgotten in the cellar. Mario's other great passion was thoroughbred racing, and his stable bred Ribot, who won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in consecutive years.

Mario's son Nicolo and his nephew Piero Antinori persuaded him to sell the wine. The 1968 vintage, the first released commercially, reached the market in 1971. Giacomo Tachis, the Antinori family's winemaker, who had studied under Emile Peynaud, came in to advise; he later created Tignanello and Solaia for Antinori. Accounts of the 1960s and 1970s credit Nicolo with lowering yields and modernizing production.

In 1978 a panel at a Decanter tasting of great clarets that included Hugh Johnson, Serena Sutcliffe and Clive Coates placed the 1972 Sassicaia first among 33 wines from 11 countries. Carlo Paoli became general manager in 2009 and, in 2025, chief executive; Alessandro Berlingieri has been chief executive since 2018 and chairman since 2022. Nicolo Incisa, born in 1936, is now honorary president, and his daughter Priscilla handles external relations.

2016: a vintage the estate called praiseworthy

The estate's report on 2016 describes an unusually warm, dry autumn in 2015, real cold from late November through January, and a damp February whose rain refilled the water table before summer. A sharp rise in temperature in early April pushed budbreak about 8 to 10 days ahead of normal. Summer arrived in the second half of June and stayed within seasonal norms except in mid-July; a few night showers in August refreshed the vines, and cool sea breezes at night helped preserve aromas and freshness.

Picking, all by hand, began in the first ten days of September with Cabernet Franc, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, and finished on October 10 with grapes from the Castiglioncello vineyards above 300 meters. The grapes reached the cellar at 20 to 23 degrees Celsius, cool enough for spontaneous fermentations to start gradually without added yeast. Fermentation took place in temperature-controlled stainless steel at about 28 to 30 degrees, with macerations of about 13 to 15 days, and malolactic fermentation in steel was finished by the end of November.

The wine then went into French oak barriques for 20 to 25 months, the length set by the character of the vintage. The blend is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. One writer who has tasted many verticals with Paoli notes that the estate has since cut Cabernet Franc to about 10% in hotter years and lengthened oak aging well beyond the 18 months the appellation requires.

A perfect score and a comparison with 1985

Monica Larner of the Wine Advocate published her review in January 2019 and gave the 2016 100 points. She tasted it in barrel and bottle several times and settled the score at the end of a mini-vertical against the 2015, which she rated 97. 'To my mind,' she wrote, 'the 2016 Sassicaia stands tall next to the epic 1985 vintage that set the ultimate benchmark for vino italiano.' She found more acidity in 2016 than in 2015 and called the wine 'chiseled and sharp' with 'pinpoint sharpness and precision.'

Decanter also scored it 100. Kerin O'Keefe gave it 98 for Wine Enthusiast; Wine Spectator and James Suckling each gave 97 (Suckling's barrel score was 97-98); Jeb Dunnuck gave 95; and Tim Jackson MW gave it 18.5 out of 20 for JancisRobinson.com, though he wondered whether it might not be the longest-lived Sassicaia. A later Wine Advocate retasting, alongside the 2021 and 2023, is listed by one retailer at 98 points, noting that the wine had 'earned a three-digit score upon release' and was going through a closed phase.

The 2016 reached the British market on February 6, 2019, at 1,270 pounds (about $1,635) for a case of twelve, a lower price than the 2015, which had been rated three points lower. In October 2025 a six-bottle case of the 2016 in its original wooden box sold at auction in the United States for $2,425, just above its $1,800 to $2,400 estimate. In October 2026 U.S. retailers were asking $523.05 a bottle on a case purchase and $629 for a single bottle; one national retailer listed the vintage as sold out.

The original Super Tuscan

Sassicaia began outside Italy's rules. It was first sold as a humble vino da tavola, later as an IGT, and in 1994 Sassicaia became a named subzone of the new Bolgheri DOC. When European rules no longer allowed such subzones, it was made a separate appellation, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC, in 2013. Sources disagree on the date: some say Sassicaia gained its own DOC in 1994, while others give 1994 for the subzone and 2013 for the separate appellation. Either way, wine under that name can be made only on Tenuta San Guido.

The success of Sassicaia helped spawn the Super Tuscan category and drew other ambitious producers to the Bolgheri coast. The estate added a second wine, Guidalberto, in 2000 and later a third, Le Difese. Today, Paoli says, he selects grapes for Sassicaia from more than 100 hectares of vineyards at several altitudes. Sources give very different figures for how much is made: one quotes Paoli at about 250,000 to 280,000 bottles, while others give about 180,000 or about 200,000.

For collectors the 2016 is the modern reference point: a 100-point Wine Advocate score that its own critic tied directly to the 1985. In a buyer's eye it is identified by the vintage and the Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC designation on the label, and it is a Cabernet Sauvignon-Cabernet Franc blend, not a Sangiovese.

The numbers

Original vineyard

Just over 1 ha at about 400 m, planted 1944 at Castiglioncello

Vineyards today

More than 100 ha to select from, per the estate's general manager; Wikipedia gives 75 ha

Production

Sources conflict: about 250,000-280,000 bottles (per Carlo Paoli), about 200,000, or about 180,000

Wine Advocate

100 (Monica Larner, January 2019); a later retasting is listed at 98

Decanter

100

Wine Enthusiast

98 (Kerin O'Keefe)

Wine Spectator

97

James Suckling

97 (97-98 from barrel)

JancisRobinson.com

18.5/20 (Tim Jackson MW)

Timeline

1. 1899

   Mario Incisa della Rocchetta is born in Rome.

2. 1930

   Mario marries Clarice della Gherardesca, whose family owns the land around Bolgheri.

3. 1944

   Mario plants just over one hectare of Cabernet at about 400 meters near Castiglioncello di Bolgheri.

4. 1945

   Sassicaia begins its life as a private wine for family and friends, which it remains until the 1967 vintage.

5. 1971

   The 1968, the first commercial vintage, is released with help from Nicolo Incisa and Piero Antinori.

6. 1978

   The 1972 Sassicaia wins a Decanter tasting of 33 Bordeaux-style wines from 11 countries.

7. 1994

   Sassicaia becomes a named subzone of the Bolgheri DOC.

8. 2000

   The estate launches its second wine, Guidalberto.

9. 2009

   Carlo Paoli becomes general manager and head of production.

10. 2013

    Bolgheri Sassicaia becomes a separate DOC, the only one in Italy reserved for a single estate.

11. Apr 2016

    An early-April heat spike pushes budbreak 8 to 10 days ahead of normal.

12. Sep 2016

    Hand harvest begins with Cabernet Franc in the first ten days of September.

13. Oct 10, 2016

    Harvest ends with Castiglioncello fruit from above 300 meters.

14. Nov 2016

    Malolactic fermentation in steel is complete; the wine begins 20 to 25 months in French barriques.

15. Jan 2019

    Monica Larner gives the 2016 100 points in the Wine Advocate.

16. Feb 6, 2019

    The 2016 is released in the British market at 1,270 pounds per case of twelve.

17. Oct 29, 2025

    A six-bottle case of the 2016 sells at auction in the United States for $2,425.

The world in 2016

• Jan 28, 2016

  The World Health Organization announces an outbreak of the Zika virus.

• Jun 23, 2016

  The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave the European Union.

• Aug 5, 2016

  The Summer Olympics open in Rio de Janeiro, the first Games held in South America.

• Aug 24, 2016

  A magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes central Italy, killing 299 people.

• Nov 2, 2016

  The Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908.

• Dec 4, 2016

  Italy's constitutional referendum fails, and Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigns.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Sassicaia 2016 is number 60 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (47 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Sassicaia means, roughly, 'the stony place,' from the Italian 'sasso,' stone.
• The man who planted Sassicaia also bred Ribot, a racehorse that won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in consecutive years.
• For more than two decades Sassicaia was never sold; the family drank it themselves or left it in the cellar.
• Sassicaia's first vineyard also held Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo and white grapes; the switch to Cabernet alone came between 1960 and 1968.
• The 2016 harvest ran from early September to October 10, finishing in vineyards more than 300 meters above sea level.
• The 2016 fermented spontaneously, with no yeast added.
• The 2016 was released for less than the 2015 even though it scored three points higher with the Wine Advocate.