Jamaica Observer (Sept 2016)

 


Tasting Sassicaia — one of the most soughtafter fine wines in the world
at the Wine Rack
 Source: Jamaica Observer

With Christopher Reckord
Thursday, September 15, 2016



Side-by-side wine tasting is one of the very best ways to appreciate the difference between wines — because you are forced to consider and describe why you like one over the other. (Picasa)

It proved somewhat of a challenge - incredibly - to convene a group of busy wine lovers to enjoy with chef/patron Pierluigi ‘PG’ Ricci of the multi-award-winning Italian restaurant Toscanini, a bottle of one of his prized possessions. Acccording to the wine press: “one of the greatest wines in the world;” “Sassicaia, the most collectible Italian wine”; “one of the world’s greatest Cabernet Sauvignon wines”; “one of the most sought-after fine wines in the world” - and these are merely a few quotes on the celebrated Italian red wine.

Breaking the rules - Super Tuscans

In Italy, like most countries in Europe, the government regulates the type of grapes that can be grown in a certain region, similarly to how our coffee is regulated. Many years ago, a number of winemakers decided to break with tradition and grow varietals that were grown in other countries and not be shackled by the government laws. As a result of this they could not put the official region names on their wines, and they were classified as ‘vino da tavola’- Italy’s lowest wine designation. These producers had to come up with interesting names for their products. These wines became unofficially classified as “Super Tuscans,” a term conjured up by the press and customers.

Eventually the government modified the rules in an attempt to bring them back into some sort of regulation. The success of Sassicaia which inspired Tignanello contributed greatly to this.

  


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