Classic ruby ​​red in color and with intense and complex aromas of black cherries, plums, a bit of boxwood, mint and black pepper. Medium-bodied on the tongue, well-rounded with light, soft tannins that maintain a long, tasty finish.
Serving suggestion:
Pizza, Dark meat, Strong cheeses, Light meat, Pasta dishes, Mild cheeses
In 1928, Niccolò Antinori decided to name this wine Villa Antinori, in honor of the family villa. The wine was to be a reflection of his own personal interpretation of Chianti Classico and Tuscany’s unique identity.
2019 began with dry weather in the first part of spring and then cooler temperatures and rainfall, which slowed the vines’ growth initially and meant a subsequent delay in flowering two weeks later than the season’s average. The summer was warm with well-distributed rainfall throughout the season, which allowed the grapes to achieve optimum ripening. At the time of harvest, the grapes had a good balance between acid and sugar and an excellent aromatic potential due to significant day/night temperature fluctuations in the last weeks of ripening.
After harvest, the grapes were de-stemmed, gently crushed and then transferred to temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The alcoholic fermentation took place over a period of 5 to 7 days, while maceration on the grape skins lasted for 8 to 12 days. The temperatures during the fermentation of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot never exceeded 28 degrees, which promotes a gentle extraction of color and soft tannins. Fermentation temperatures for Syrah and Merlot never exceeded 25 degrees to preserve the aromatic compounds of the grape varieties. Malolactic fermentation was completed by the end of the year for all grape varieties and the wine was then transferred to French, Hungarian and American oak barriques for aging.
About Antinori
Italian Marchesi Antinori is 26 generations of absolutely world-class wine history. 630 years is almost hard to understand when it comes to one and the same family of wine producers. But Antinori can trace its history all the way back to 1385, when Giovanni di Piero Antinori was admitted to the ‘Arte Fiorentina dei Vinattieri’, the order of winemakers in Florence. Today, Marchesi Antinori is a member of Primum Familiae Vini – an association of 12 of the most prestigious, family-owned wineries worldwide. It doesn’t get much bigger than this.
Already in Renaissance Florence, the Marchesi Antinori was a very successful wine house, and Allesandro Antinori was one of the richest residents of the city, which was the center of the time’s great thinkers and artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and for writers such as Dante Alighieri, who wrote his Divine Comedy. Marchesi Antinori is to this day a family-owned company, where values ​​such as enormous care, focus on even tiny details and the desire to constantly become more skilled lie beneath the skin. Through 26 generations, the family has shaped Italian winemaking with innovative and sometimes bold decisions, but always with a fundamental respect for tradition. In 1974 Marchesi Antinori launched his first Tignanello on the market, one of the first so-called `Super Toscanes’. The wine shook up the Italian wine world and changed what could be done in the boot country. Created on a blend of Sangiovese and the then ‘forbidden’, foreign grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, Piero Antinori was one of the great innovators in a brand new wave of super-Tuscans, which one dared to create without discriminating against old rules and standards. Today, Tignanello is considered to be one of the most important wines in the entire wine history of Italy.
Antinori thus already has many more chapters in its history than the vast majority of wineries. But the last chapter is still far from being written. You will be assured of this when you drive up in front of the distinguished winery. Here, everything is done tastefully, from the works of Leonardo da Vinci and Giovanni Della Robbia on display to the lighting in front of the elevator, which leads up to the small restaurant overlooking the vineyards. Although the old roots play a big role in the family’s daily work and in the visions for the house and each individual wine, it has never put an end to Antinori’s always innovative spirit, as the example of Tignanello shows. They research new local and international grape varieties and experiment with alternative cultivation methods, fields at varying heights, fermentation methods, different casks for barrel aging, etc. Today, Albiera Antinori is the director of Marchesi Antinori with the support of the sisters Allegra and Alessia. Their father, Marchese Piero Antinori, is Honorary President of the family business.
