Giacomo Tachis, has died on the first weekend of February in San Casciano Val di Pesa (Tuscany) where he lived. This is a great loss for Italian wine.

Tachis was an Italian winemaker who had a fundamental role in producing some of Italy’s most prestigious wines, especially Super-Tuscans, pioneering the use of Cabernet Sauvignon near the Tuscan coast. He influenced the recovery of Italian fine wine in the 20th century. For instance, he was in charge for production of Sassicaia, Tignanello and Solaia within Antinori’s fine wine stable.

Born in 1933 in Piedmont, he studied oenology in Alba. Tachis “belongs to that small, select group who changed the course of Italian wine”, wrote Richard Baudains in the Decanter magazine feature that accompanied his Decanter Man of the Year 2011 award.

Tachis always emphasized the need for balance, authenticity and terroir in wine, no matter what grapes would be used. This underlines his coherence in dealing with Cabernet Sauvignon within a Tuscan framework.

Tachis’ legacy as a winemaker continues to loom over the Italian wine world. And many of the labels that he created, such as Sassicaia and Tignanello (Tuscany), Turriga and Terre Brune (Sardinia), to name just a handful are still widely considered to be among Italy’s best.

On February 8th, Veronafiere (Vinitaly’s organising institution) announced that this year’s Vinitaly, on its 50th year of activity, will dedicate a memorable tasting in honour of Giacomo Tachis. This event, will be this year’s most important tasting held at Vinitaly (April 10th-13th) and will be centred on Tachis and his wines: 50 years of Italian wine renaissance. Giovanni Mantovani, director of Veronafiere (Vinitaly’s organising institution), said that the tasting will be led and illustrated by those producers who had the honour of working with him.

We look forward to this event and to report on this great winemaker and his landmark wines.