Valentine’s Vertical

For Valentine’s Day this year, my girlfriend and I opened a 2015 and a 2021 Sassicaia. This was our first time having Sassicaia, so we were excited to finally open these bottles after having them in storage for a few months. We paired them with chocolate from L.A. Burdick (highly recommend) and eventually a homemade steak dinner. I am on the tail end of a cold and was worried that I might not enjoy these wines as much as I might otherwise had, but these fears were assuaged once we got to tasting. I thought I would have enjoyed the younger wine more, but ultimately I was pleasantly surprised by the 2015 vintage and thoroughly enjoyed trying to parse everything it had to offer. Tasting notes below.

2015

On first pour with no decant: on the nose I got dark chocolate, cigar box, muddled red berries, maybe a bit of earthiness but I really associated this more with tobacco & cedar/cigar box. This is the first time I could really notice that aroma on the nose so I was a bit surprised, in the best way possible.

After approximately a 1 hour decant: more floral notes start to shine through on the nose, I also get cherry on the nose. I get earthy notes on the front palate, reminiscent of wet dirt, red and black berries, especially tart cherry, on the back palate and finish. Absolutely gorgeous wine. Could drink this every day.

96/100

2021

On the first pour with no decant: on the nose this vintage is much more floral with some muted dark chocolate and cigar notes (much more muted than in the 2015 vintage)

After approximately a 1 hour decant: I start to get some notes that I associate with a freshly dewed forest on the nose. I immediately get bright, ripe bing cherry on the front palate, with some blackberry notes but (to my surprise) less so than with the 2015 vintage. The finish is a bit harsher, the tannins noticeably stronger.

After approximately a 2 hour decant: I get much stronger black and blue fruit on the nose and front palate with unripe blueberry on the finish. This was the most enjoyable time of the night to drink this vintage for me.

95/100