Sassicaia began as a private experiment. In the 1940s the Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted Cabernet Sauvignon at Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast, because it reminded him of Graves — and for twenty years he drank the result himself. The first commercial release was the 1968.

It changed Italian wine. Because Cabernet had no place in the local rules, Sassicaia was sold as humble vino da tavola while beating first growths in blind tastings — the founding scandal of the Super Tuscans. Italy eventually rewrote the rules around it: since 1994 the wine has had its own appellation, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC, the only single-estate DOC in the country.

2016 is the modern benchmark — a long, temperate season with cool nights that gave both ripeness and tension. The vintage was named Wine of the Year by Wine Spectator and awarded a perfect score.

Blackcurrant and cedar over Mediterranean herbs, graphite and a distinct saline note from the sea air; poised and aristocratic on the palate, the tannins of remarkable finesse, the finish very long. Approachable with air, but this is a thirty-year wine.