Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto Toscana IGT 2021
Hailed as the standard-bearer of Italian enology, the historic Tenuta San Guido estate is known for crafting Sassicaia, the world’s first Super Tuscan and an important contribution to Italy’s evolving reputation as a fine-wine producing nation in the mid-20th century. From the ambition of Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta to plant Bordeaux varieties in Tuscany in the 1940s to the arrival of acclaimed consulting oenologist Giacomo Tachis to the introduction of two additional wines to the brand, Tenuta San Guido has vaulted from success to success.
Just as the Graves region of Bordeaux is named for its gravelly soil, so Sassicaia is an area of Bolgheri, in coastal Tuscany, named for its many stones. Mario Incisa della Rocchetta had enjoyed the fine wines of Bordeaux as a young man in the 1920s and dreamed of planting his own vineyard one day. This plan came to pass after 1930, when he married Marchesa Clarice della Gherardesca, whose dowry included the 7,500-acre estate of Tenuta San Guido that her family had owned for centuries, in the province of Livorno on the western outskirts of Tuscany, near the village of Bolgheri. Mario Incisa noticed a similarity between this land and the Bordeaux vineyards he was familiar with.
In 1944, Mario Incisa acquired a number of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vine cuttings from a vineyard near Pisa and planted them on a sloping hillside overlooking the San Guido estate, called Castiglioncello after the small, 11th-century castle of the same name, used as a hunting lodge, at the vineyard's upper edge.
A full-bodied wine of intense red fruit flavor and elegantly supple texture supported by ripe, silky tannins. The Merlot in the blend is expressed in sweet black fruit with overall aromas of ripe, concentrated berries offset by restrained spicy oak notes.
After a somewhat rainy autumn 2020 with mild temperatures, winter was instead very harsh especially due to the arrival of a perturbation of polar origin. After a first timid beginning of spring which occurred towards the end of March, a perturbation of cold air brought back the intense cold with temperatures close to zero °C. The continuation of spring was somewhat rainy until mid-May when beautiful sunny days arrived. June was regular while July was hot and dry. The dry heat characterized the first half of August, but on 16 August a perturbation brought rain and stabilized temperatures on the seasonal norm. The grapes have reached perfect ripeness without excess sugar and with a nice pulp and well lignified pips.
HARVESTING
The harvest, carried out manually, began with the Merlot from the end of August and continued from 22 September with Cabernet Sauvignon to be completed in the first days of October. The harvest was able to take place calmly, given the excellent weather conditions and the correct vegetative state of the plants. This has allowed to obtain an excellent balance between technical maturity and phenolic maturity, with excellent lignification of the seeds and stalks which has resulted in the release of only noble tannins during destemming and maceration.
FERMENTATION
Sorting of the grapes in the field during the manual harvest and subsequent selection upon arrival in the cellar by means of a sorting table. Soft pressing and destemming of the bunches to avoid the pressure of the berries and excessive tannic transfer. Alcoholic fermentation carried out in stainless steel vats with a controlled temperature and maintained at around 27-28°C, with no usage of external yeasts. The macerations of this vintage were carried out for about 14-16 days for Merlot and about 16-18 days for Cabernet Sauvignon, with frequent pumping over in the air and délestage which made it possible to obtain balanced musts, excellent release of anthocyanins. The malolactic fermentation in stainless steel took place gradually and slowly, starting at the beginning of November and completed at the end of the month.
AGEING
From the second decade of December, the musts were placed in 225-litre barriques made of partly French oak and a small part (5%) of American oak for a period of 15 months. Use of 40% of new wood, 40% of second passage wood and 20% in equal shares of third and fourth passage. The choice was made to best balance the release of tannins and, at the same time, keep the excellent primary and secondary aromas obtained from a great vintage in most of the musts in the foreground. Subsequent refinement of three months in glass before being released on the market.
Guidalberto's name comes from Guidalberto della Gherasdesca, Nicolo Incisa della Rochetta great great great grandfather. He lived in the early nineteenth century in Bolgheri and was a pioneer of modern agriculture, and is famous for having planted the cypress alley that inspired the poet Giosuè Carducci. Guidalberto is a second wine from the producers of the legendary Sassicaia. Grapes are harvested and transported to an independent cellar. The soil is made up of various morphological and composite characteristics with a strong presence of limestone areas rich in galestro, pebbles and partially clay; they are located at an altitude between 328 and 984 feet above sea level, with exposure to South / South-West.
