Marchese Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta was born in Rome and lived there until 1942 when his family moved during World War II to their Tenuta San Guido estate in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast. In 1948, he entered l’Institut Le Rosey in Rolle on the shores of Lake Geneva. Nicolò graduated from the University of Geneva in 1959 with a degree in economics, followed by a brief stint with a Swiss brokerage firm.
Sassicaia was born from the passion, drive and foresight of Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who was experimenting with cabernet sauvignon grapes on the Bolgheri hills since the 1940’s. This experiment, that was initiated to produce a “family wine”, turned into a national and then international success, when his son Nicolò, who is currently running the estate, took over the management in the 1970’s. Nowadays Marquis Nicolò perpetuates the tradition of Tenuta San Guido estate, considered by many to be the birth place of Tuscan Cabernet, still following his father’s teachings and philosophy. He is also running the famed English thoroughbred horses stud-breeding farm “Razza Dormello Olgiata”, which is since the 1930’s the other main activity of the Incisa family.
Soon Nicolò was helping his father manage all of the family’s extensive lands and interests, including wine production. In 1970, with his cousin Piero Antinori, he convinced his father to allow the commercialization of Sassicaia and formed an alliance with consultant Giacomo Tachis, who helped to modernize the production of Sassicaia, with controlled-temperature fermentation, lower yields and shorter maturation in oak.