Winemaker Notes
Blend: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a landmark wine from a landmark vintage. The blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, which results in a generous, striking and unforgettable product. The bouquet is elegant and toned, with aromas of dark fruit, tobacco and chocolate. The mouthfeel is tight and firm, and it boasts persistence and impressive balance. It has all of the qualities required for long-term aging, so keep this for 10 years or more. Cellar Selection.
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James Suckling
Best Guado al Tasso ever. Wonderful nose of crushed blackberries and cherries with hints of dark chocolate. Full-bodied, with soft and round tannins and a long, long finish. It goes on for minutes. Now just a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Better after 2015.
The Guado al Tasso Estate is located in the prestigious Bolgheri DOC, part of the Tuscan coastal area of Maremma, known for its untamed landscape and unspoiled beauty. Just 60 miles southwest of Florence, it sits on a magnificent plain in the heart of the Bolgheri amphitheater, a natural phenomenon created by hills that embrace the sea and produce a mild and temperate microclimate. Blessed with ample sunshine and constant breezes that take the edge off the summer heat and winter cold, Guado al Tasso is the ideal environment for cultivating healthy vine growth and proper ripening of the estate’s grapes. Inherited from Carlotta della Gherardesca, and revolutionized by Niccoló Antinori, the mother and father of Piero Antinori, Guado al Tasso is a reference point property in the life and history of the family. Here the challenge is to create wines of absolute excellence, always representative of the Bolgheri history, culture, and winemaking traditions.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.