Drink at least one Super Tuscan before you die!
Why? These wines changed the rulebook. For decades they were the passion project of a few Itlaian aristocrats. But the results were too good to ignore. Word got out. And they had to share them. Make sure you don't miss out!
Italy has no shortage of native grape varieties, yet one of its most iconic wines is built on French-born ones.Classified, at first, as humble table wine, the original Super Tuscans were anything but — ambitious, expensive projects backed by Italy's wealthiest wine families, inspired by Bordeaux's great estates. In the 1940s, Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted Cabernet Sauvignon at Tenuta San Guido in Bolgheri, chasing the clarets he admired. A generation later, his nephew Piero Antinori began questioning whether Chianti's rulebook was producing Tuscany's best wine.
The absurdity: wines like Sassicaia and Tignanello didn't fit the rules. Sassicaia used Bordeaux varieties on the coast; Tignanello dropped Chianti's white grapes, added Cabernet, aged in French barriques. Some of Italy's most ambitious wines were sold simply as Vino da Tavola, outside the DOC system.
The classification was humble. The wines never were, and what followed forced Italian wine law to catch up with the cellar, writing one of modern wine's most fascinating chapters.
Ten Second Summary
- What it is: An unofficial term for ambitious Tuscan reds that originally sat outside Italy's traditional appellation rules — from Sangiovese-Cabernet blends to Bordeaux-style Cabernet and Merlot.
- Tastes like: No single flavour — sour cherry, herbs and bright acidity from Sangiovese, through to cassis, plum, cedar and tobacco from Cabernet and Merlot.
- Buying shortcut: Tignanello for the marriage of Tuscany and Bordeaux; Sassicaia for the original; Ornellaia or Guado al Tasso for Bolgheri Cabernet-Merlot; Masseto and Solaia if money is no object — or jump straight to the six wines ↓
- Best with: Beef, lamb, wild boar, bistecca alla Fiorentina, slow-cooked meat, aged Pecorino — hearty food that's never met a pair of tweezers.
- When to drink: Built to age. Most reward five to ten years; the best vintages develop for decades.
What's on this page
- What is a Super Tuscan?
- Sassicaia: the original Super Tuscan
- Then came Tignanello
- From table wine to some of Italy's priciest bottles
- Why is Bolgheri so important?
- What does Super Tuscan wine taste like?
- How long should you age a Super Tuscan?
- Six Super Tuscan wines to try before you die
- Where should you start?
- Are Super Tuscans better than Chianti Classico?
- Quick FAQ
What is a Super Tuscan?
First, the important bit: Super Tuscan isn't an official classification — no DOCG, no legally defined recipe. The term describes ambitious Tuscan wines that didn't conform to the appellation rules of their day: some using international varieties, others using Sangiovese in ways the regulations didn't permit, often in French oak. What united them wasn't a recipe but an attitude: make the best wine possible, worry about the classification later.
The rules have since caught up, and a Super Tuscan may now carry anything from Toscana IGT to Bolgheri DOC Superiore, while Sassicaia has its own DOC. Think of it as a stylistic label, not a legal one — it began, more or less, with Sassicaia.
Sassicaia: the original Super Tuscan
The story starts with Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta at Tenuta San Guido, near the coastal village of Bolgheri. Mario loved the great reds of Bordeaux and noticed his gravelly soils resembled those of Graves. In 1944 he planted a small vineyard of Cabernet Sauvignon — a peculiar thing to do in Tuscany at the time.
The wine wasn't meant for sale. Sassicaia stayed private from 1945 until 1967, gradually improving as the family learned how Cabernet behaved on the coast. Then came the 1968 vintage, reaching market in 1971. The name comes from the stony ground — roughly, "place of many stones."
The irony was magnificent: an increasingly acclaimed Cabernet, sold as table wine because it fell outside the rules. Sassicaia became one of Italy's most famous wines and eventually earned its own denomination, Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC — few wines have exposed a classification system's limits so thoroughly.
Then came Tignanello
If Sassicaia proved Cabernet could make extraordinary wine on the coast, Tignanello turned the experiment into a revolution.
Piero Antinori's family had made wine in Tuscany for centuries, but Piero doubted Chianti's rules, which prescribed the blend — white grapes included — while ruling out varieties like Cabernet. The wine that became Tignanello started as a single-vineyard Chianti Classico Riserva in 1970; from 1971 it broke away as its own table wine.
Antinori describes it as the first Sangiovese matured in barriques and the first modern Tuscan red to blend Sangiovese with then-untraditional Cabernet. But don't imagine the modern Tignanello formula appeared fully formed in 1971: the wine evolved over several vintages, with white grapes disappearing completely in 1975 and the current blend settling into place in 1982. What matters is that it broke the rules to make something better, and people noticed.
From table wine to some of Italy's priciest bottles
Once Sassicaia and Tignanello showed what was possible, the gates opened: Solaia at Antinori, Ornellaia in Bolgheri, Masseto proving the coast could grow extraordinary Merlot, producers everywhere experimenting with Sangiovese and the Bordeaux varieties.
Soon bottles carrying Italy's lowest classification could command more than many DOC and DOCG wines. Eventually the law caught up: the broader IGT category arrived and the rules in places such as Bolgheri and Chianti Classico evolved. Today some famous Super Tuscans remain Toscana IGT, while others sit comfortably within DOCs. The rebellion won.
Why is Bolgheri so important?
Four of the six wines below have strong ties to Bolgheri, on the coast — very different country from the inland hills most drinkers associate with Chianti. Soils vary between gravel, sand, clay and limestone, and Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot suit it well: gravel reminded Mario of Bordeaux's Graves; at Masseto, a hill of ancient blue clay grounds one of the world's most coveted Merlots.
Bolgheri is no Tuscan imitation of Bordeaux — the sunshine, sea air and ripeness give it its own identity. Bordeaux just supplied the spark.
What does Super Tuscan wine taste like?
Asking what a Super Tuscan tastes like is a bit like asking what French wine tastes like: it depends. But there are two useful camps.
The Sangiovese-led style, epitomised by Tignanello, gives sour cherry, herbs and lively acidity, Cabernet adding darker fruit, oak lending cedar and polish. The Bordeaux-variety style associated with Bolgheri — Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot — makes richer, darker wines with blackcurrant, plum and tobacco, broader than traditional Sangiovese reds. Masseto sits in a category of its own: sumptuous Merlot built on huge concentration and polished tannin.
The best Super Tuscans manage something clever — borrowing grapes and ideas from Bordeaux without tasting like Bordeaux made somewhere warmer. Unmistakably Tuscan, still.
How long should you age a Super Tuscan?
These aren't wines for Tuesday-night spaghetti, opened in the car park on the way home. Cabernet-based wines like Sassicaia, Solaia and Ornellaia are formidable young, with concentrated fruit, oak and serious tannin; time knits it together and brings out cedar, tobacco and dried herbs. Tignanello's Sangiovese gives it the freshness to age beautifully. Five to ten years is a reasonable start; the great wines reward much longer, and provenance and storage matter as much as the label.
Six Super Tuscan wines to try before you die
1. Sassicaia — Tenuta San Guido
If you drink only one Super Tuscan, make it this. Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted Cabernet Sauvignon at Tenuta San Guido in 1944, made it privately for two decades, then released the 1968 vintage. Cabernet Franc joins Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend.
Generally less voluptuous than the Bolgheri wines that followed: cassis and dark cherry, but also cedar, herbs, tobacco and restraint — aristocratic Cabernet with an Italian accent, not a fruit bomb. It's the wine that makes the story wonderfully absurd: table wine famous enough to earn its own DOC.
My own first taste came during my WSET Diploma, before we'd even reached Italy, so I had no idea what I was drinking. After class one evening at the London Bridge study centre, a group of us went to a wine bar. Among us was a dapper, evidently well-off Italian engineer, who produced a bottle of Sassicaia, poured himself a glass and told the rest of us to help ourselves. The others fell over themselves with gratitude; I had no idea what the fuss was about. He just shrugged and said he wanted a decent glass of something — the wine we'd been tasting in class clearly hadn't done the job. I was suitably impressed. Only later did I learn the wine's significance, and its price tag.
Why drink it: this is where it all begins.
Find Sassicaia on Wine-Searcher
2. Tignanello — Marchesi Antinori
If Sassicaia is the original rebel, Tignanello made rebellion contagious. From the Tignanello vineyard, it blends Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc — the first Sangiovese matured in small oak, and the first modern red from the area to pair Sangiovese with Cabernet.
One of the best introductions to the category: Sangiovese gives cherry fruit and savoury lift, Cabernet the darker fruit and structure. Still tastes Tuscan — it just refuses to be boxed in.
This is also the first Super Tuscan I remember tasting, long before I knew what a Super Tuscan was. Early in my career, passing through Rome on my way to a winery job in Abruzzo, I ducked into a wine shop with bottles open for tasting. The shopkeeper insisted I try one he called the best wine in Italy. I wrote its name down phonetically in my notebook so I wouldn't forget how to pronounce it: Tignanello. Extraordinary. It took a few more years before I understood quite how extraordinary, and how expensive.
Why drink it: it explains the revolution in a single glass.
Find Tignanello on Wine-Searcher
3. Solaia — Marchesi Antinori
If Tignanello puts Sangiovese first, Solaia turns the dial toward Cabernet. Antinori first made it in 1978 from 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc; Sangiovese joined later, creating today's Cabernet-dominant blend, from a 20-hectare vineyard on the Tignanello estate. Darker and more Cabernet-like — blackcurrant, plum, spice, polished tannin rather than sour-cherry bite. Tignanello is the milestone; Solaia is Antinori pushing the idea further.
Why drink it: Tignanello's Cabernet-dominant sibling, and one of Tuscany's great modern wines.
4. Ornellaia — Ornellaia
Ornellaia was founded in Bolgheri in 1981; its flagship wine debuted with the 1985 vintage, and the estate is now owned by the Frescobaldi family. Firmly Bordeaux-inspired: Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot form the backbone, supported by Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot (2023: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot).
Where Sassicaia is restrained, Ornellaia is broader and more sumptuous — dark fruit, plum, cassis, tobacco, spice. It carries the Bolgheri DOC Superiore classification, proof of how thoroughly the rules absorbed this revolution.
Why drink it: a definitive example of Bordeaux varieties on the Tuscan coast.
Find Ornellaia on Wine-Searcher
5. Masseto — Masseto
And then there's Masseto. Born from a Merlot vineyard planted on the clay-rich Masseto hill in the early 1980s, it grew into one of Italy's most sought-after, expensive bottles.
It made its name as Tuscany's great pure-Merlot statement, with one wrinkle: the 2019 and 2020 vintages included Cabernet Franc before the 2021 returned to 100% Merlot. Think "great Tuscan Merlot" rather than an immutable 100% rule. Its ancient seam of blue clay, planted with Merlot where Cabernet once seemed safer, is central to the story. Powerful and luxurious: ripe plum, blackberry, chocolate, dense tannin. Very expensive — but a bucket list isn't supposed to be sensible.
Why drink it: it proved Tuscany could stand beside the world's great Merlots.
6. Guado al Tasso — Marchesi Antinori
Guado al Tasso gives Antinori a foot on the coast as well as in Chianti Classico. Made in Bolgheri since 1990, it blends Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, sometimes a little Petit Verdot, from alluvial soils ranging from clay-sand to clay-loam.
Stylistically it sits alongside Ornellaia — dark fruit, cassis, plum, herbs, spice, firm tannin. It lacks the mythical status of Sassicaia or Masseto, which is useful: the full Bolgheri experience without chasing the room's most famous label.
Why drink it: a superb intro to Cabernet-led Bolgheri.
Find Guado al Tasso on Wine-Searcher
Where should you start?
If you've never tasted a Super Tuscan, start with Tignanello — not because it's "better," but because it makes the story easiest to understand: Sangiovese alongside Cabernet, tradition colliding with outside influence. Prefer Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon? Start with Sassicaia. Want the richer, more opulent Bolgheri style? Ornellaia or Guado al Tasso. If someone else is paying, Masseto would be rude to refuse.
Are Super Tuscans better than Chianti Classico?
No. Different. Their success exposed weaknesses in the old regulations and pushed Tuscan wine to improve broadly — modern Chianti Classico bears little resemblance to the cheap, straw-covered bottles that once damaged the region's name. Nor does "international variety" mean superior wine: great Sangiovese is every bit as profound as Cabernet or Merlot.
Their legacy isn't that Cabernet beat Sangiovese — it's that great winemakers should be free to find out what works.
Quick FAQ
What is a Super Tuscan wine?
An unofficial term for high-quality Tuscan wines made outside the traditional appellation rules — often Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or Merlot, alone or blended with Sangiovese.
What was the first Super Tuscan?
No legally defined "first" — the term isn't official — but Sassicaia is generally regarded as the original (Cabernet planted 1944, first release the 1968 vintage), with Tignanello turning the idea into a wider movement.
Are all Super Tuscans from Bolgheri?
No. Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Masseto and Guado al Tasso are tied to Bolgheri; Tignanello and Solaia come from the Tignanello estate in the Chianti Classico area.
Is Super Tuscan an official appellation?
No — it's an informal label. Wines may carry classifications like Toscana IGT or Bolgheri DOC, and Sassicaia has since earned its own DOC. The early wines simply didn't conform to the rules of the day, so producers accepted the lowly Vino da Tavola tag rather than change the wine to fit the rulebook.
Sassicaia vs Tignanello?
Sassicaia is Cabernet-dominant, from Bolgheri; Tignanello, from the Tignanello estate in the Chianti Classico area, is Sangiovese-led with Cabernet. Sassicaia looks to Bordeaux; Tignanello keeps a foot in both camps.
Is Masseto really 100% Merlot?
Traditionally, yes, although the 2019 and 2020 vintages included Cabernet Franc before the 2021 returned to 100% Merlot. "Tuscany's great Merlot" is therefore safer than treating 100% Merlot as an immutable rule.
Why are Super Tuscans so expensive?
Exceptional, limited vineyards and decades of ageing potential play a role, but so do reputation, scarcity and collector demand. With the biggest names, you're paying for the label's history and prestige as well as what's in the bottle.
Are Super Tuscans worth it?
You don't need to spend hundreds on a bottle to drink excellent Tuscan wine. But a bucket list isn't entirely about sensible purchases. Sassicaia and Tignanello changed the direction of Italian wine, and at least once it's worth finding out what all the fuss is about.
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