98pts James Suckling

Plenty of red currant, cedar, iron and terra cotta aromas follow through to a medium to full body with graphite, sandalwood, red currants and fresh Mediterranean herbs such as thyme and rosemary. The tannins are chewy but polished in texture. This is a Sassicaia that needs three or four years of bottle age to come together and soften. A structured wine for the cellar.

98pts International Wine Review

The 2022 Sassicaia is simply brilliant in this vintage, showing a remarkable level of poise and freshness. It opens with a captivating bouquet of ripe blackberries, plum, florals and subtle herbs, underscored by a touch of spice, tobacco and minerals. On the palate, it is medium to full-bodied and well-structured, with velvety tannins and a lively acidity that provides perfect balance. Rich flavors of red/dark fruits, tobacco and spices unfold beautifully, leading to a long, persistent finish that is both refined and elegant. A stunning example of Sassicaia's pedigree and resilience to thrive year after year.

97pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

The Tenuta San Guido 2022 Bolgheri Sassicaia reveals a beautiful fruit profile with fresh blackberry, tart cherry and Mediterranean tones of blue rosemary blooms and lavender sachet. I tasted this wine several times over the course of a few months, and it has already shown a happy evolution coming into slow focus like the faint colors that emerge from a Polaroid photograph. Indeed, the bouquet appeared more closed just a short while ago. The wine's strongest suit is its elegantly streamlined mouthfeel and its contained 13.5% alcohol content. These qualities add to the silky cleanness of the mouthfeel and the accessible freshness of this vintage. I am confident that this bottle will improve with time. It requires patience.

97pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2022 Sassicaia is a deeper, youthful magenta/red color with a slightly deeper aromatic profile of rosemary, gravelly earth, sage, mossy earth, and fresh black cherries. The palate has slightly broader shoulders but remains elegant. It has more plushness on the mid-palate, while its acidity shines through with the finish. It will need several years to shed its baby fat and show its full potential. Drink 2028-2058.

97pts Kerin O'Keefe

Opening with aromas of menthol, dark spice, blue flower and dark-skinned berry, the 2022 Sassicaia is impressive and defied my expectations. Hailing from what was a notoriously hot, dry year, the estate’s location, including its hillside vineyards, vicinity to the woods plus much-needed rain in August preserved freshness and aromas as did harvesting somewhat earlier than usual, shorter skin maceration and slightly less time in oak. Showing elegant restraint, it’s balanced and tense, delivering flavors of ripe blackberry, wild cherry, licorice and mint. It’s still quite tight and youthfully austere, with a backbone of firm, refined tannins and fresh acidity. Give it time to fully unwind. Drink 2030–2042.

97pts Decanter

The wine is tightly coiled and concentrated. It feels almost cinched at the waist, with a fascinating tension between the weight of raspberry, blackberry and strawberry coulis fruit and the wine's verticality, as if it's trying to burst out. Lovely mid-palate sapidity is allied to fresh acidity and fine but dense tannins, making for a dark horse of a Sassicaia that isn't giving much away today but will greatly reward those who can cellar it for 12 years and more. ‘What is sure is that 2022 will need a lot of time, but will also have a long life,’ said Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta. A hot vintage, 2022 caused the team to work in the newly completed refrigerated warehouses in San Guido, even moving the sorting table inside. Shorter macerations and 23 rather than the more typical 24 or 25 months of ageing in wood helped to maximise the freshness.

96pts Jane Anson

The tannins are gentle and integrated even now, while still in barrel, and its provides a striking contrast wtih many 2022s from this corner of Tuscany, where concentration is the byword. Sassicaia is able to retain acidity even in the hottest summers, and the balsamic and butterscotch notes are beautifully balanced by rosebuds, lavender, red cherries, rosemary, fennel, charred sandalwood and tomato leaf. The frame is in place, and the density offset by a soft textural caress. Sample taken from three barrels, final wine to be shipped in a few months, after a dry vintage helped by a few rains here just before harvest. 40% new oak for ageing, Carlo Paoli director.

95pts Wine Spectator

A bit shy aromatically, this red exhibits black currant, black cherry, blackberry, tobacco and sweet spice flavors, with a hint of eucalyptus. Concentrated, offering assertive tannins that take hold as this evolves to the finish. Though closed and compact at this stage, overall this is balanced, fresh and long. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2028 through 2045.

94pts Vinous

The 2022 Sassicaia is a very pretty, expressive wine. There’s a bit more Cabernet Sauvignon (and less Franc) in this year’s blend, and that really comes through in the wine’s flavor profile and slightly bruising tannins. Dark cherry, plum, leather, licorice, graphite and incense give the 2022 striking aromatic presence to match its rather brooding personality. There’s a bit of tension in the tannins that needs time to resolve. Yields were down about 20% because of intensely cold weather in spring, variable conditions during flowering and set, and then searing heat and drought throughout the summer.

Winemaker Notes

Tenuta San Guido, the birthplace of Sassicaia, the original Super Tuscan, crafts wines from vineyards rooted in Bolgheri's gravelly soils, where southwest-facing slopes and maritime breezes foster ideal ripening conditions. In 2022, despite a hot and dry summer, they produced a Sassicaia marked by elegance and purity, a testament to their meticulous hand-harvesting, natural yeast fermentation, and aging in French oak. This vintage is a departure from sheer power, emphasizing freshness and longevity. It opens with an expressive nose of ripe red fruits—plum, cherry, and blackberry—intertwined with nuanced notes of menthol, dark spice, and blue florals. The palate, elegantly streamlined, delivers a harmonious blend of ripe blackberry, wild cherry, licorice, and mint, supported by a backbone of refined tannins and vibrant acidity, promising exceptional aging potential for decades to come. Pair with Rib-eye Fiorentina, braised lamb shoulder ragu, or an eggplant parmesan.

Pair with braised meats and hard cheeses.