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The story of the Super-Tuscan pioneers began in 1944, when the noble Mario Incisa della Rocchetta perceived a likeness between the coastal soil of his Tenuta San Guido estate and that of the Graves appellation in Bordeaux. Both were rocky, as the name Graves suggests. With the assistance of Tancredi Biondi Santi he planted cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux’s Château Lafite and began to make the wine that he later christened Sassicaia, or “stony ground.” Sassicaia was introduced to the market in the late sixties following a quarter century of experimentation, the final years of which involved the notable assistance of Piero Antinori’s winemaker, the esteemed Giacomo Tachis. It immediately challenged the first growths and cult wines of the world, becoming the most collected Italian wine and a cellar trophy of aficionados. (IWM is pleased to have the largest allocation of vintage and current release bottlings.
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Poggiomandorlo 2004, 750ml Tua Rita Giusto di Notri 2006, 750ml
Our Price: $78.00
Our Price: $79.99
Poggiomandorlo 2004 Tua Rita Giusto di Notri 2006
This Super Tuscan blend is a very modern combination of Merlot and Cabernet Franc from the trendy Toscana zone of Maremma. It has notes of cherry and spice, firm tannins and a bright acidity. Layered flavor spectrum, capturing each individual variety even as it seems too perfectly integrated to give individual attention to any one grape. But it does just that, particularly in the signature herbaceous contribution of Cabernet Franc, enhanced by notions of pencil lead and violets.
Antinori Guado al Tasso 2005, 750ml Antinori Guado al Tasso 2004, 750ml
Our Price: $109.00
Our Price: $110.00
Antinori Guado al Tasso 2005 Antinori Guado al Tasso 2004
The 2005 Guado al Tasso transforms its initially gentle aromatics into an intense and highly concentrated perfume of berry and anise. The palate juxtaposes that verbose articulation with a finessed delivery of high-toned currant fruit, herbal notes, and minerality. Darker fruit exhibit notes of toast, coffee and mineral. Solid structure with super-fine tannins complete an ideal balance on the palate. The 2004 Guado al Tasso is opulent and layered with rich dark fruits, licorice and herbs. Impeccably balanced, the wine is supported by firm,  round tannins and a long persistent finish.
Luce 2006, 750ml Antinori Guado al Tasso 2006, 750ml
Our Price: $110.00
Our Price: $114.00
Luce 2006 Antinori Guado al Tasso 2006
This wine began as a joint project between Lamberto Frescobaldi and Tim Mondavi and in 2002 it passed entirely to Lamberto Frescobaldi, who continues to this day to write the history of Luce in the land of Brunello di Montalcino. With this wine he has blended the traditional Sangiovese with Merlot, producing a sumptuous, super-ripe wine with notes of blackberries, blueberries, spices, minerals. Not only is Guado al Tasso the Antinori for those in the know, it is also the flagship of Antinori's Bolgheri estate. Situated in Maremma on the Tuscan coast, 96km south-west of Florence, the Guado al Tasso estate extends from the green hills surrounding the old village of Bolgheri down to the sea. Guado al Tasso delivers substantive plum fruit on the palate, enriched by a secondary note of black pepper spice. The structure is attuned to the wine's flavor profile that ensures a balanced and complex expression.
Fontodi Flaccianello 2006, 750ml Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia 2007, 750ml
Our Price: $160.00
Our Price: $169.00
Fontodi Flaccianello 2006 2007 Sassicaia Pre-Sale
This represents the debut offering of the 2006 Flaccianello from IWM and one of the first in the country. It is difficult to imagine this wine surpassing the performance from the 2004 and 2005 vintage. The two vintages remain among the fastest selling wines at IWM to date. But Fontodi, and the estate's proprietor Giovanni Manetti, have done it again. And like the 2004, the recent release is unquestionably a wine of longevity—the thick layers of rich black and red fruit make this wine deceivingly approachable, but it is just a tease of what is to come. Drink 2012-2025. A brilliant wine, like the 2006, with great purity and precision, the early heat of the 2007 vintage will make this wine slightly more accessible than the prior vintage. This deeply colored wine with refined tannins, plump mid-palate and lively acidity exhibits a youthful fragrance of cassis, blackberries, black plums, cigar and black pepper.
Tua Rita Syrah 2006, 750ml Le Macchiole Scrio 2005, 750ml
Our Price: $198.86
Our Price: $225.00
Tua Rita Syrah 2006 Le Macchiole Scrio 2005
Multi-layered palate with notes of earthiness and spice. Aromatic and complex on both the nose and palate. Like Messorio, this wine is made in tiny quantities--only 400 cases are produced annually and ratings are invariably high. From a unique soil composition of clay, sand and rock, this wine demonstrates tremendous concentration and fully expresses the exotic potential of Syrah in the Maremma. Deep purple with a nose of vanilla and licorice dominated by blackberries. More dark fruit harmonizes with truffles and tar on a profound, concentrated palate and an impressively lengthy finish.
Tua Rita Redigaffi 2005, 750ml
Our Price: $269.00
Tua Rita Redigaffi 2005
Showcasing Toscana's Maremma alongside France's Pomerol, our objective was to draw attention to Maremma's Bolgheri zone, one of Italy's most vital and provocative epicenters of Merlot. In so doing, we discussed the merits of Petrus, Masseto, and Messorio.
   
 
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While Sassicaia constituted the genesis of the movement, Antinori’s Tignanello ignited its soul. In contrast to Mario della Rocchetta, Piero Antinori desired not to recreate a Bordeaux-style claret, but rather, to convey the versatility and finesse of the noble Sangiovese. Drawing upon the consummate skill of Tachis, Antinori realized his conception in the form of the second official Super-Tuscan—Tignanello—which starred Sangiovese, supported by a minor contribution from Cabernet. This constituted the debut crafting of a barrique-aged Sangiovese and the first modern red wine to include a nontraditional varietal. Tignanello was also among the Chianti zone’s initial productions sans white grapes. Antinori began with Tignanello and went on to produce Solaia in 1978 and Guado al Tasso in 1990.

Unfortunately, success wrought abuse and exploitation, perpetrated most drastically via the indiscrimate usage of international varietals, which served to discredit the native Sangiovese. This depreciation wrought a significant backlash, most notably via the efforts of the late winemaker Sergio Manetti and the flagship of his Montevertine estate—Le Pergole Torte—the first single-vineyard, 100% Sangiovese to be classed as a Super-Tuscan.

Founded by Sergio Manetti in 1967 as a hobby, Montevertine has passed far beyond the realm of a casual pastime and into Toscana's upper echelon, given Manetti's devotion to expressing the inherent quality of Sangiovese. As he believed in Sangiovese’s ability to realize a wine of quality on a solo basis, Manetti took issue with the attention lavished on the Super-Tuscan contingent and what he believed was a compromising position for Sangiovese—continued positioning in blends with the international varietals. He believed that the DOC's efforts to cultivate a wine of universal appeal undermined Sangiovese's image, implying that the grape's nature precluded its expression as a single-varietal wine. Upon withdrawing from the consortium in 1981, Manetti undertook production of various bottlings that honored his conception of Sangiovese, validating its performance sans the use of the international set and introducing only minor amounts of Canaiolo and Colorino for his Rosso bottling. Manetti passed away a few years ago, leaving the estate to his son, Martino. While some feared that Martino would alter the profile of the wines, he has wholly adhered to his father’s principles, providing wines that maintain fidelity to Sergio's vision.