In the 1920s, as a student in Pisa, Marquis Mario Incisa della Rocchetta already dreamed of creating a 'noble' wine. Like most Italian aristocrats of the time, he had a pronounced fondness for fine Bordeaux wines. After taking up residence in their estate in Tenuta San Guido on the Mediterranean coast with his wife, Clarice, he experimented with different French grape varieties. His conclusion was straightforward: 'the bouquet I was looking for', I found in the Cabernet. A wine with Cabernet Sauvignon as the main component marked a radical reversal of the traditional Tuscan and Piedmontese Sangiovese and Nebbiolo varieties. No one had ever considered making a wine according to the Bordeaux approach on Italian soil, and certainly not in an area that has (until now) had no foothold in the wine universe.
