97+ Points - The Wine Advocate
”Marchesi Antinori's 2013 Solaia is a profound and meaningful wine that is based mostly on Cabernet Sauvignon with Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc in supporting roles. It sports a dark and thick texture with plump fruit and spice, grilled herb and black pepper. The bouquet is intense and layered with the kind of complexity that is best admired as the wine shifts and evolves in the glass. The textual impact is also impressive—you feel the inherent power and the structure, but these elements are never overdone. The best is yet to come; this Solaia is built for long cellar aging.” Monica Lancer
95 Points - The Wine Advocate
”The 2012 Solaia is the ultimate comfort wine: It serves as a beautiful monument to the potential of Italian wine. Let me give you some context. My lukewarm review of the 2011 vintage caused some heads to turn. Happily, the previous vintage has served as a springboard for this current release. Both 2011 and 2012 come from hot climatic conditions, but these wines are very different in style and content. The 2011 heat softened the lines that make up the varietal identity of this celebrated Tuscan blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. Those lines are presented in sharp focus with the 2012 edition. The nose is redolent of dark berry, crushed mineral, plum, spice and touch of white pepper. The wine is integrated and seamless, but it speaks with a strong and articulate voice.” Monica Lancer
91 Points - The Wine Advocate
”I’m not fully convinced by the 2011 Solaia. It is a hedonistic and heady expression for sure, but it doesn’t come near the 97 points I awarded the 2010 vintage. In fact, the bouquet here is very ripe with thick tones of strawberry and blackberry folded within tobacco, leather and sweet spice. Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc offer flavors of rum cake and candied fruit. There’s a good amount of tannic firmness surrounded by thick extract and fleshiness.” Monica Lancer
93 Points - The Wine Advocate
”The 2008 Solaia is richer and darker than the Tignanello, but it isn’t an appreciably more complex or complete wine. It shows gorgeous depth and textural richness to match an expressive core of blackberry jam, smoke, scorched earth, crushed rocks and cassis. This is a beautiful wine, but not as great as I had hoped. The 2008 Solaia is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese and 5% Cabernet Franc, aged in 100% new oak. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.” Monica Lancer
Tenuta Tignanello is owned by the Antinori family who have been making wine for over 600 years, since Giovanni di Piero Antinori became part of the Arte Fiorentina Dei Vinattieri in 1385. The Chianti estate consists of 319 hectares of land, of which 127 are planted with vines. Within this there are two special vineyard parcels which enjoy a number of unique characteristics - Solaia and Tignanello.
“What would the wine world be like without the Antinori family? The patriarch of the clan, Piero Antinori, forever changed the way the world views Tuscan wines with the invention in the 1970s of Tignanello, followed by Solaia.” James Suckling
Solaia was first produced in 1978 from a parcel of vines within the larger Tignanello vineyard due to the exceptional quality of the Cabernet Sauvignon that vintage. This would normally have gone into the pioneering Super Tuscan, Tignanello, but instead Marquis Piero Antinori decided to ferment and age a pure Cabernet, producing 3,600 bottles. The Solaia vineyard today consists of 20 hectares of vines which benefit from high altitude, rocky soil, a unique micro climate and most importantly exposure to the sun (which accounts for the name of the parcel and the wine - ‘Solaia’ derives from sole, the Italian word for sun).
The initial blend was 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc which was repeated in 1979. In following years, 20% Sangiovese was introduced.
Solaia is only produced in superior vintages and was not produced in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1992.
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