Guidalberto! Who knew?

Ok, probably lots of you knew, but I didn’t.

Tasted blind, this was eye opening.

2019 Guidalberto: deep inky ruby, narrow rim. Pronounced nose of black cherry, plum, green leaves, wild herbs, violets, pepper and smoke. Grippy and firm tannins, high acidity, full and ripe. Good concentration, well structured, quite a serious wine.

I was torn between Tuscany and Bordeaux. Felt very Tuscan, but not necessarily a classic Sangiovese profile, and yet I didn’t get a lot of cassis, cedar or tobacco so I didn’t scream cab/bordeaux blend. Knowing the second bottle was related to the first, I waited to see if that pointed me in one direction or the other. If anything it confused matters more.

2006 Sassicaia: same deep inky colour, maybe a touch more garnet. Wild and powerful aromas of sour cherries, plum compote, herbs, tomato leaf, graphite, tobacco, cedar and a whisper of vanilla. Very refined and elegant on the palate, smooth and silky tannins that are well integrated but still very present. It’s surprisingly restrained compared to the nose, with red fruits, graphite minerality, and cigar box.

It’s an extremely well made wine of exceptional quality, but again I’m torn between whether we are in Tuscany or Bordeaux. It’s so poised, and it feels more Bordelaise than Tuscan.

Conclusion:

The fact that both wines seemed to indicate both regions should have been a clue, but I am not knowledgeable enough about Bolgheri/cab based Tuscans to call it. Still I was pleased that I identified those characteristics and I could perceive the different influences. What really struck me was that, while the Sassicaia (£400) is clearly the superior wine, and by an order of magnitude, it is absolutely not ten times the wine the Guidalberto (£40) is. The Guidalberto is absolutely over-delivering at this price. One to keep an eye on, certainly with good ageing potential.