2021 Tenuta San Guido Guidalberto Toscana Tuscany 750 ml

When many wine lovers hear the name Tenuta San Guido, they think of just one wine: Sassicaia. 

They are missing out. 

Yes, Tenuta San Guido is the producer of Sassicaia, the Bolgheri icon that launched the craze for powerful, Bordeaux-influenced Italian red blends. But to fail to look beyond that legendary name is to miss one of the finest, most regal values in all of Tuscany.

Beginning in 2000, Tenuta San Guido began fashioning a more affordable “baby Sassicaia” called Guidalberto. This younger sibling mirrors that benchmark cuvée’s poise and aristocratic bearing but shows a lushness and unfolding intensity that makes it immediately approachable. 

The 2021 is the greatest Guidalberto ever made, according to winemaker Carlo Paoli, who also is in charge of Sassicaia for San Guido. The Cabernet tasted so good in the cellar that Paoli upped the percentage in the blend, dialing back the Merlot to 40% without sacrificing any drinkability in this powerhouse bottle.

Tenuta San Guido began with one man’s obsession. Beginning in the 1920s, Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta became preoccupied with the idea of re-creating the best of Bordeaux on stony Italian soil.

The results of his early plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc on land along the Tyrrhenian coast were strictly consumed by his family. But as the wines aged, they became stunning, with the power and elegance to match the famous estates of Graves or Pomerol. By the early 1970s, Sassicaia was setting a new benchmark for excellence in Italian wine.

This 2021 bottling is an ideal way to understand the historic terroir that produces Super Tuscan glory without having to spend Sassicaia money.