1985 Sassicaia
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Tasting notes
Conversation gradually halts as the 1985 Sassicaia is poured. It’s the most anticipated wine of the afternoon, and with good reason, as the 1985 is one of the most famous wines ever made, not just in Italy, but anywhere. It's also the wine that put Bolgheri on the map. Literally. Several guests have traveled to New York for this event just to taste the 1985. It does not disappoint. Dark and unctuous, with shocking opulence, the 1985 stains the palate with copious dark fruit. Tobacco, cedar, mocha, licorice and new leather follow. At 40 years of age, the 1985 has not lost a step. From magnum, it is simply magnificent. The true definition of an icon. It is the product of an unusually warm and dry growing season, with elevated temperatures that persisted through to harvest. The 1985 spent 14 days on the skins. Aging was 22 months in barrique (65% new), a mix of 60% Slavonian oak and 40% French oak. I can't think of a better way to end this lunch. What a wine!
Critic scores
Average Score
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
So finely spun, with pillowed tannins, perfect weighting and freshness through the palate, fires up your senses with rosemary, white truffle, mocha, underbrush, olive tapenade, redcurrant and crushed raspberry fruits, utterly moreish. No hint of it going anywhere after an hour open in the glass, even at almost 40 years old. This was a low-yield vintage after a very cold winter, where 80% of the olive trees in Tuscany were destroyed, which no doubt contributes to this concentration and persistence. And if you want to know if setting makes a difference to the enjoyment of a wine, I first tasted this almost ten years ago during an estate vertical in a fresco-ceilinged Roman palace while overlooking the fountains of Piazza Navona. This time I was at home with a bowl of (excellent) pasta. Both times a stone cold 100 points.
Oddly enough, the 1985 Sassicaia was the wine least commented during the conversations that followed this retrospective. Our panel consisted of some two dozen professional wine tasters from around the world, and virtually not a word was uttered with regards to this wine. That's how truly outstanding it is. The soaring beauty of this landmark Sassicaia literally transcends the rather mundane realm of wine critique with its string of adjectives and wearisome descriptors. It hardly deserves to be treated like any of the other gorgeous wines we tasted on this glorious day. In truth, the 1985 Sassicaia does reveal a new perspective onto its perfection each time you have the fortune to taste it. I noticed a layer of bright almond-like sweetness that I don't recall tasting before. The wine seems to be getting younger, not older. Even its appearance is remarkable. Of the various samples presented from the 1980s, this wine exhibited the brightest garnet color and the most youthful personality. It shows stunning volume. The integration is seamless and the wine's many complicated pieces fit together with utmost precision like a jigsaw puzzle that renders a most beautiful Italian masterpiece when admired at completion.
The 1985 Sassicaia is obviously an iconic wine. Still deeply colored, the 1985 is endowed with serious depth, gorgeous inner perfume and tons of pure textural richness. This isn't the greatest bottle of the 1985 I have had, but it is pretty close.
About the producer
Tentuta San Guido produces Sassicaia – Italy’s most famous wine. An icon from the Bolgheri coastline of Tuscany, made from Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, its rise to prominence in the late 1970s sparked the Super Tuscan revolution.