Bolgheri

Tuscany · Italy · Wine Auction Prices

Bolgheri is the smallest DOC zone in Tuscany by area and the most valuable by average auction price, with 4,493 lots averaging $349 per bottle — higher than any other Tuscan sub-region. The zone runs along a narrow coastal strip in the Maremma, sheltered from the Tyrrhenian Sea by the Colline Metallifere, with well-drained alluvial and rocky soils quite unlike the clay and schist of Montalcino. The modern era of Bolgheri begins with Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta's decision in the 1940s to plant Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc on his Tenuta San Guido estate; the resulting Sassicaia was initially made for private consumption only. When released commercially in 1968 it demonstrated that Bordeaux varieties could produce world-class wine in Tuscany, and the experiment was confirmed when Decanter named the 1985 Sassicaia the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the world at its 1986 tasting. Sassicaia dominates Bolgheri at auction with 2,390 lots — by far the most of any single Tuscan wine — at an average of $478. The top bottle recorded is $4,481. Ornellaia, a neighbouring estate producing a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated blend, accounts for a further 950 lots at $284 average. Antinori's Guado al Tasso (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah) adds 589 lots at $160. The zone received its own DOC in 1983, and Sassicaia gained a unique sub-appellation — Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC — within it in 1994, the only Italian DOC created for a single estate wine.