I tasted Sassicaia 2009, 2010 and 2011 last week in the winery of Tenuta San Guido with Marchese Nicolo Incisa della Rochetta, the owner of the winery. As most readers will have known by now, Sassicaia 2009 has received huge praise (and high scores) from wine critics on both sides of the Atlantic. I was quite nonplussed as I tasted the three wines.

Sassicaia 2009 was a very dark purple red, a rather backward nose with a whiff of cabernet sauvignon. On the palate the wine was very fresh and juicy, tasting more savoury than sweet. A big rich wine but seemed a very different Sassicaia from what I know it to be.

Then came the 2010 Sassicaia, a tank sample as it had yet to be bottled. Scarlet red, medium-hued, with a light fruity bouquet. A dense profound wine, still very closed, a palate of orange peel, tobacco and black coffee. Very much more like the character of Sassicaia I am familiar with.

Marchese Nicolo asked us: "Which one do you prefer?" A rhetorical question in a way because both were extremely good. I hesitated a little, having in mind the published scores of the 2009, and also not sure what answer he expected! Finally I said "2010". He did not really seem surprised. I explained: "This is the Sassicaia I know, the personality I am familiar with - reserved, a little closed, more breed, more aristocratic." Nicolo nodded in agreement. He knew what I meant.

Then came the tank sample of Sassicaia 2011. This took the cake. It had everything that the 2010 and 2009 had but it also had something extra, an additional dimension at the back, for the moment buried under the densely concentrated ripe fruit and tannins. Its length was unbelievable. Another 1988 flashed through my mind.

I would like to declare at this point that I am involved in the importation of Sassicaia, but the above account given here is not to promote Sassicaia but to illustrate one very important quality of wine which may not have been adequately aired.

Wines are made to give pleasure. It is not difficult to make wines which easily please. It is far more difficult and infrequent therefore to come across a wine which not only pleases but affords the drinker intellectual as well as sensorial challenges. An honest wine is about a place, about the soil, about the people and their heritage, about the environment and the culture, and about the weather during the growing season. Sassicaia 2009 was a beauty to drink. It begged to be drunk. 2010 and 2011 intrigued, teased and mystified. You could not put your finger on what it was that challenged you to identify.

Later in the day I had the opportunity and pleasure of tasting the young wines of Tenuta dell 'Ornellaia, the estate just around the corner from Tenuta San Guido. As readers would by now have known, Ornellaia is often compared with its neighbour Sassicaia, having been founded by Marchese Ludovic Antinori, of the famous Florentine house of Antinori. In contrast to Sassicaia which is 85 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon and 15 per cent Cabernet Franc, Ornellaia's cepage comprises 52 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 22 per cent Merlot, 21 per cent Cabernet Franc and 5 per cent Petit Verdot. The high concentration of Merlot makes Ornellaia rounder, softer than Sassicaia and more lush.

Tasting the same vintages of Ornellaia 2009 and 2010 after earlier doing the same vintages of Sassicaia made for a very interesting and instructive tasting experience. In the case of Ornellaia I preferred the 2009. At the time of tasting on Oct 18, it appeared better balanced than 2010, more poised, more confident. Both had the familiar characteristics of Ornellaia - black-red colours, sweet fruit nose with light reminders of cedarwood, both packed with lush ripe fruit well balanced by refreshing acidity.

On balance I thought the 2009 to be a better balanced wine, more poised. They were both very good, and there was indeed very little to choose between them. It came down to a matter of personal taste.

Finally, Masseto 2009 and at dinner later the same evening, Masseto 1997!

Masseto is a 100 per cent Merlot wine, coming from a special seven hectare vineyard, the Italian equivalent of Petrus in Bordeaux. Sadly it has acquired the iconic status of a cult wine putting it out of reach of the majority of wine lovers.

Masseto 2009 was as expected, a massive wine. Very black-red colour, with a faint but distinctive nose of lovely fresh ripe berry fruit. At this stage, it's rather one-dimensional and with a complex palate somewhat resembling a very ripe Christmas cake. It also could do with a bit more acidity.

Masseto 1997 was a different ball game. At 15 years of age, this wine has lost its puppy fat and gained complexity and balance. Very clearly a Merlot on the palate, quite intriguingly complex, but still seemed rather one-dimensional. The Ornellaia I found more challenging and intriguing. Could these wines have been grown anywhere else? Bordeaux? Napa? Coonawarra? The clear answer is NO. Neither for that matter can Torbreck's Run Rig be produced anywhere else than in the Barossa.

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