2020 Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia Bolgheri, Tuscany, Italy

SOIL STYLE
The soils have varied and complex features with strong presence of limestone, areas rich in marl and pebbles, as well as partially clay. They are situated at an altitude between 100 and 400 meters above sea level, with a West, South-West.

WEATHER TRENDS
The autumn was humid with abundant rains that occurred from mid-October and lasted until the end of December. Temperatures were quite mild and, at times, even above the seasonal average. Intense cold has arrived in February with temperatures that have dropped approaching 0°C. March began with strong sea winds and rains but with mild temperatures which contributed to the enlargement of the buds, especially of the early varieties such as Merlot. At the end of March, a perturbation from Russia brought about a marked drop in temperatures with north winds and even some freezing at night. This weather condition did not cause damage to the Cabernet Sauvignon vines as it is a late grape variety, while in some Cabernet Franc plants there was some gem selection, causing the vegetative development on the secondary buds. April and May were mild with alternating sunny days and average seasonal temperatures with rainy days and cooler air. A somewhat unusual spring which did not cause damage to the vines but led them to more vegetation and production during the spring. Agronomists had to pay greater attention and planned several interventions by the agricultural workforce to reduce the exceeding production of the plants After mid-June, the climate recovered, bringing sunny and warm days that continued until harvest time, except for some interruptions with precipitations in July and in August, to the benefit of the plants. The ripening of the grapes took place about 7-8 days earlier than normal and the beautiful sunny days prompted the grapes to reach full ripeness quickly. The grapes, although with a higher sugar content, arrived in the cellar healthy and of excellent quality, with adequate phenolic ripeness.

HARVESTING
The manual harvest began in the first week of September with the grapes from the younger vineyards starting from the Cabernet Franc and then continued with the Cabernet Sauvignon from the vineyards located at lower altitudes, ending in the last week of September with those on the hills located over 300 meters above sea level (Vigna di Castiglioncello and Vigna del Quercione).

FERMENTATION
Selection of the grapes through a sorting table, to eliminate impurities and any presence of imperfections. Soft pressing and delicate destemming of the grapes, maintaining the integrity of the berries and avoiding excessive transfer of tannins. The alcoholic fermentation (completely spontaneous and without the addition of external yeasts) was concluded by the end of October and carried out regularly and at controlled temperatures not exceeding 27-28 °C. Frequent delestages and pumping over allowed for excellent aromatic extraction and freshness in terms of acidity of the musts. The malolactic fermentations took place in steel, at the end of November. In the first week of December, after frequent decanting to clean the musts, the wine was placed in oak barriques.

AGEING
At the end of the malolactic fermentation, the wine was placed in barriques using 45% new wood, 45% first passage and 10% second passage. Sassicaia 2020, after more than 25 months of aging in wood, was decanted into steel tanks before the final blending and then bottling. Subsequent refinement in the bottle before release on the market.