First made in 1971, this legendary Italian wine now celebrates its 50th birthday. Happy Birthday, Tignanello! The Marchesi Antinori 2021 Tignanello (made with 79% Sangiovese, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc) pulls on all the heartstrings. To be released in May, the wine shows a quintessentially pretty taste profile with tart fruit flavors, redcurrant, tea leaf, heritage rose, crushed white pepper, licorice, nutmeg, clove and chopped mint. It opens slowly to reveal more richness and exuberance with time, becoming downright voluptuous and heady a short while later. The through line, however, remains the bright freshness and minerality of Sangiovese. Compared to the 2018 vintage (which I also loved), this vintage has more overall fruit weight and volume.
Medium ruby red is dense & holds its colour well to the rim. High-toned, red cherry aromas overlay chocolatey richness & a hint of cedar. Flavours are of bitter red-cherries supported by fine chocolatey-smooth tannins. The wine is medium to full bodied. The acidity is mouth-watering. The alcohol is a touch warming. The finish is long & dense, opening to show high-ripeness black-cherry at the end.
The 2018 vintage offers a deconstructed Tignanello upon first inspection because you can clearly make out the varietal typicity of the grapes, especially the green spice and white pepper of the two Cabernets, along with aromas of crushed limestone that recall the white rocks carefully placed in the vineyards to protect the rows. The wine's fruit weight is contained and polished, and there are no exaggerations, excesses, or loose ends.
The results are calculated and exacting, especially if you consider the tannic management (with aging in both new and used Hungarian and French oak for up to 16 months) and the quality of the elegant mouthfeel. With time in the glass, those deconstructed elements converge to create unity and balance.
The Tignanello vineyard is 57 hectares and sits at a breezy 390 meters above sea level with alberese and galestro soils. Those elevations proved important for shedding excess humidity at the end of this 2018 growing season.
Medium ruby red is dense & holds its colour well to the rim. High-toned, red cherry aromas overlay chocolatey richness & a hint of cedar. Flavours are of bitter red-cherries supported by fine chocolatey-smooth tannins. The wine is medium to full bodied. The acidity is mouth-watering. The alcohol is a touch warming. The finish is long & dense, opening to show high-ripeness black-cherry at the end.
The Marchesi Antinori 2019 Tignanello was born in a classic growing season that saw some cooling summer rains and relatively stress-free conditions. This is an elegant and extremely polished wine made with mostly Sangiovese and smaller parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Here too, the small blending element of Cabernet Franc has been slowly increasing in recent years.
The 2019 vintage was born with a good amount of power and tannic structure, and maceration times were slightly reduced as a result. This less extractive approach shapes a polished and elegant wine with plenty of bright berry fruit, cherry, dried mint, blue flower, blood orange and rusty earth. The palate is more compact and streamlined. It shows beautiful grace. After this, the next vintage to watch is the highly anticipated 2021.
The 2018 vintage offers a deconstructed Tignanello upon first inspection because you can clearly make out the varietal typicity of the grapes, especially the green spice and white pepper of the two Cabernets, along with aromas of crushed limestone that recall the white rocks carefully placed in the vineyards to protect the rows. The wine's fruit weight is contained and polished, and there are no exaggerations, excesses, or loose ends.
The results are calculated and exacting, especially if you consider the tannic management (with aging in both new and used Hungarian and French oak for up to 16 months) and the quality of the elegant mouthfeel. With time in the glass, those deconstructed elements converge to create unity and balance.
The Tignanello vineyard is 57 hectares and sits at a breezy 390 meters above sea level with alberese and galestro soils. Those elevations proved important for shedding excess humidity at the end of this 2018 growing season.
The Marchesi Antinori 2017 Tignanello (made with Sangiovese and smaller parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc) is a dark, exuberant, and inviting wine. I tasted my sample after a double decanting and was pleased by the profound nature of the wine and the immediate openness of the aromas.
There is a symphony of dark fruit with black cherry, plum, spice and sweet tobacco. I am particularly attracted by a distant hint of medicinal or menthol herb that I also discovered in other wines with fruit from the Tignanello estate in 2017. There's a drying mineral note of crushed chalk as well. The heat and dryness of the vintage has added to the aromatic intensity of the wine (yields were reduced by a third), but the mouthfeel is carefully crafted to maintain its softness and smoothness.
Fruit comes from a 57-hectare section of the Tenuta Tignanello from a vineyard that is located 390 meters above sea level with Alberese limestone rock and soils of marine origin. The wine is fermented in conical oak tanks and is aged up to 16 months in a combination of mostly French and some Hungarian oak, both new and neutral.
The Marchesi Antinori 2017 Tignanello (made with Sangiovese and smaller parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc) is a dark, exuberant, and inviting wine. I tasted my sample after a double decanting and was pleased by the profound nature of the wine and the immediate openness of the aromas. There is a symphony of dark fruit with black cherry, plum, spice and sweet tobacco. I am particularly attracted by a distant hint of medicinal or menthol herb that I also discovered in other wines with fruit from the Tignanello estate in 2017.
There's a drying mineral note of crushed chalk as well. The heat and dryness of the vintage has added to the aromatic intensity of the wine (yields were reduced by a third), but the mouthfeel is carefully crafted to maintain its softness and smoothness. Fruit comes from a 57-hectare section of the Tenuta Tignanello from a vineyard that is located 390 meters above sea level with Alberese limestone rock and soils of marine origin. The wine is fermented in conical oak tanks and is aged up to 16 months in a combination of mostly French and some Hungarian oak, both new and neutral.
To hit the market in June, the 2016 Tignanello is a rock-solid wine and a stunning beauty. The wine offers an impeccable level of precision and laser-focus delivery of fruits, spices, tilled earth, espresso beans and Mediterranean herbs.
This vintage follows the classic blending formula of 80% Sangiovese with about 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc. The vines are now 15 to 20 years old. Compared to the 2015 vintage that ultimately appeared chewier and succulent, this expression from the iconic 2016 vintage is more vibrant, nervous, and jazzed. It shows more savoury spice, saltiness and minerality, with a beautifully integrated quality of tannins.
To hit the market in June, the 2016 Tignanello is a rock-solid wine and a stunning beauty. The wine offers an impeccable level of precision and laser-focus delivery of fruits, spices, tilled earth, espresso beans and Mediterranean herbs.
This vintage follows the classic blending formula of 80% Sangiovese with about 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc. The vines are now 15 to 20 years old. Compared to the 2015 vintage that ultimately appeared chewier and succulent, this expression from the iconic 2016 vintage is more vibrant, nervous, and jazzed. It shows more savoury spice, saltiness and minerality, with a beautifully integrated quality of tannins.
To hit the market in June, the 2016 Tignanello is a rock-solid wine and a stunning beauty. The wine offers an impeccable level of precision and laser-focus delivery of fruits, spices, tilled earth, espresso beans and Mediterranean herbs.
This vintage follows the classic blending formula of 80% Sangiovese with about 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc. The vines are now 15 to 20 years old. Compared to the 2015 vintage that ultimately appeared chewier and succulent, this expression from the iconic 2016 vintage is more vibrant, nervous, and jazzed. It shows more savoury spice, saltiness and minerality, with a beautifully integrated quality of tannins.
The 2015 Tignanello is a wine that opens, like a fully blossomed rose, right in front of you. This vintage is immediately accessible, generous, and opulent. The wine will surely flesh out and gain focus with more bottle age, but one of the best qualities of this vintage is just how beautiful the wine tastes straight out of the gate.
The fruit is beautifully ripe with fresh blackberry and cherry nuances, spice, leather, sweet tobacco, and smoke. Up until this vintage, the various blending components that make up Tignanello were vinified in separate lots. Starting with 2015, the wine is blended sooner to achieve better overall integration. The entire Tignanello estate counts 130 hectares of vines, but the single vineyard "Tignanello" that makes this wine is 57 hectares.
The 2015 Tignanello is a wine that opens, like a fully blossomed rose, right in front of you. This vintage is immediately accessible, generous, and opulent. The wine will surely flesh out and gain focus with more bottle age, but one of the best qualities of this vintage is just how beautiful the wine tastes straight out of the gate.
The fruit is beautifully ripe with fresh blackberry and cherry nuances, spice, leather, sweet tobacco, and smoke. Up until this vintage, the various blending components that make up Tignanello were vinified in separate lots. Starting with 2015, the wine is blended sooner to achieve better overall integration. The entire Tignanello estate counts 130 hectares of vines, but the single vineyard "Tignanello" that makes this wine is 57 hectares.
Tignanello has this amazing ability of always being, well, Tignanello. Its very DNA makes it among the most distinctive and recognizable wines in the world. I'm happy to report that this is also the case for the 2014 Tignanello that faced very different growing conditions compared to most.
The wine is beautiful and balanced with sweet tannins and a supporting oak texture that is neatly folded at the back. The wine is all about measure and proportion, and it aspires to these goals with an impressive sense of natural harmony. This is not an overtly powerful or muscular expression. Instead, it shows a tasty, almost savoury form of elegance.
This vintage was made with 75% Sangiovese, which means that the Cabernet presence is a tad bigger than normal. Ultimately, this wine is more finessed and delicate, and I appreciate the careful tannic management on display here.
The 2013 Tignanello represents the beginning of a new chapter for Italy's ultimate game-changer wine. The blend remains 80% Sangiovese with 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, but Renzo Cotarella tells me "stylistically-speaking, this is what we wanted to achieve."
The winemaking formula remains the same, but one of the major differences and benefits to this wine is vineyard age. The celebrated Tignanello single vineyard is now reaching 15 years old. In other words, it is in its production prime. This is a harmonious and beautifully integrated wine that reveals black fruit and baking spice. I'm told the 2014 Tignanello will have a greater percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2015 vintage will have more Sangiovese.
Tignanello is a renowned Italian wine producer located in the heart of Tuscany. The winery has a rich history dating back to the 16th century when it was first established by the Antinori family. Tignanello is known for producing some of the finest Super Tuscan wines in the world.
The winery's flagship wine, Tignanello, is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 12-14 months and then in bottle for another 12 months before release. Tignanello is a full-bodied wine with a complex aroma of red fruits, spices, and tobacco. On the palate, it is rich and velvety with a long finish.
In addition to Tignanello, the winery also produces other Super Tuscan wines such as Solaia and Guado al Tasso. Solaia is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Franc, while Guado al Tasso is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. Both wines are aged in French oak barrels and are known for their elegance and complexity.
Tignanello also produces a range of Chianti Classico wines, including Riserva and Gran Selezione. These wines are made from Sangiovese grapes and are aged in oak barrels for varying lengths of time. The Chianti Classico Riserva is a full-bodied wine with a rich aroma of red fruits and spices, while the Gran Selezione is a more complex wine with a long finish.
Overall, Tignanello is a producer of some of the finest Super Tuscan wines in the world. The winery's commitment to quality and tradition is evident in every bottle they produce. Whether you are a wine connoisseur or simply enjoy a good glass of wine, Tignanello is a producer that should not be missed.
The 2011 Tignanello demonstrates a very ripe and fruit-forward personality with bursting cherry and blackberry folded within sweet spice, moist tobacco, and honey-almond paste. Its texture is heavy and dense with sticky spots of sweetness (the alcohol is recorded at 14.5%). With such a fruit-heavy personality, the wine doesn’t reach the soaring heights or brilliant complexity we see in cooler vintages. It should veer toward a greater sense of focus and tightness with more bottle age.
Humming with energy and life from the very moment you put your nose in the glass, Marchesi Antinori’s 2010 Tignanello shows magnificent aromatic layering and an enormous capacity to peel back and reveal itself in beautiful slow motion. This is an articulate wine with a long story to tell about the quality of its profound 2010 fruit.
This Tignanello has the elegance of 2004 and the structure of 2007. A brief note on the structure: The mouthfeel here is not broad and big. Instead, it shows a sharp and elegantly streamlined feel with impressive persistency. Compared to 2009, the Sangiovese component is slightly higher with 80% of the noble Tuscan variety followed by 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc.
Tignanello is a renowned Italian wine producer located in the heart of Tuscany. The winery has a rich history dating back to the 16th century when it was first established by the Antinori family. Tignanello is known for producing some of the finest Super Tuscan wines in the world.
The winery's flagship wine, Tignanello, is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 12-14 months and then in bottle for another 12 months before release. Tignanello is a full-bodied wine with a complex aroma of red fruits, spices, and tobacco. On the palate, it is rich and velvety with a long finish.
In addition to Tignanello, the winery also produces other Super Tuscan wines such as Solaia and Guado al Tasso. Solaia is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Franc, while Guado al Tasso is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. Both wines are aged in French oak barrels and are known for their elegance and complexity.
Tignanello also produces a range of Chianti Classico wines, including Riserva and Gran Selezione. These wines are made from Sangiovese grapes and are aged in oak barrels for varying lengths of time. The Chianti Classico Riserva is a full-bodied wine with a rich aroma of red fruits and spices, while the Gran Selezione is a more complex wine with a long finish.
Overall, Tignanello is a producer of some of the finest Super Tuscan wines in the world. The winery's commitment to quality and tradition is evident in every bottle they produce. Whether you are a wine connoisseur or simply enjoy a good glass of wine, Tignanello is a producer that should not be missed.
The 2009 Tignanello is quite beautiful. Cedar, graphite, sweet herbs, licorice and leather add complexity to a core of highly expressive red fruits. The 2009 impresses for its energy, drive and focus. Today, the 2009 comes across as slightly understated relative to many recent vintages, especially 2007 and 2008. There is a silkiness and polish that is reminiscent of the 2004. Tignanello is 75% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc from vineyards in San Casciano Val di Pesa, one of the most evocative hillsides in all of Italy.
The 2008 Tignanello is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage. The 2008 isn’t a huge or obvious Tignanello, rather it is a wine that impresses for its sublime elegance and precision. Understated layers of fruit caress the palate like cashmere in this impeccable, soft wine.
There is not a hard edge to be found. Black cherries, tobacco, smoke, and liquorice are some of the notes that come through on the finish. The flavour profile is decidedly on the dark side, but the wine’s structure is medium in body and intensity.
In 2008 the Tignanello has more energy, focus and length than the Solaia. It is a fabulous achievement! The 2008 Tignanello is 80% Sangiovese aged in 300-liter French oak barrels (1/3rd new), 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, both aged in 100% new 225-liter French oak barriques.
The 2008 Tignanello is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage. The 2008 isn’t a huge or obvious Tignanello, rather it is a wine that impresses for its sublime elegance and precision. Understated layers of fruit caress the palate like cashmere in this impeccable, soft wine.
There is not a hard edge to be found. Black cherries, tobacco, smoke, and liquorice are some of the notes that come through on the finish. The flavour profile is decidedly on the dark side, but the wine’s structure is medium in body and intensity.
In 2008 the Tignanello has more energy, focus and length than the Solaia. It is a fabulous achievement! The 2008 Tignanello is 80% Sangiovese aged in 300-liter French oak barrels (1/3rd new), 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, both aged in 100% new 225-liter French oak barriques.
The 2007 Tignanello is ripe with promise for the future. The wine has just started its evolutionary track with aromas of blackcurrant, dried blackberry, and cherry. This was a warm but balanced vintage that shows beautiful results today and exceeds my already high expectations.
There is a steady thickness and determination to the wine that carries it forward. This was the last vintage made in the Tignanello winery before the structure saw a major overhaul. Given the staying power of this historic wine, I feel that this vintage will hold easily for another 20 years or more.
Tignanello is a renowned Italian wine producer located in the heart of Tuscany. The winery has a rich history dating back to the 16th century when it was first established by the Antinori family. Tignanello is known for producing some of the finest Super Tuscan wines in the world.
The winery's flagship wine, Tignanello, is a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. The wine is aged in French oak barrels for 12-14 months and then in bottle for another 12 months before release. Tignanello is a full-bodied wine with a complex aroma of red fruits, spices, and tobacco. On the palate, it is rich and velvety with a long finish.
In addition to Tignanello, the winery also produces other Super Tuscan wines such as Solaia and Guado al Tasso. Solaia is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Franc, while Guado al Tasso is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah. Both wines are aged in French oak barrels and are known for their elegance and complexity.
Tignanello also produces a range of Chianti Classico wines, including Riserva and Gran Selezione. These wines are made from Sangiovese grapes and are aged in oak barrels for varying lengths of time. The Chianti Classico Riserva is a full-bodied wine with a rich aroma of red fruits and spices, while the Gran Selezione is a more complex wine with a long finish.
Overall, Tignanello is a producer of some of the finest Super Tuscan wines in the world. The winery's commitment to quality and tradition is evident in every bottle they produce. Whether you are a wine connoisseur or simply enjoy a good glass of wine, Tignanello is a producer that should not be missed.
Antinori has turned out a very beautiful Tignanello in 2005. The wine possesses perfumed, well-articulated aromatics that meld into a soft, generous core of ripe red fruits. Smoke, mineral, tobacco, and spice overtones develop in the glass with air. To be sure, this is a relatively slender Tignanello, and while it doesn’t have the qualities of the superb 2004, it does have the balance to age gracefully for the next decade or so.
Antinori’s 2003 Tignanello (85% Sangiovese, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc) is a terrific effort. Typical Sangiovese notes of red cherries, tobacco and underbrush dominate the flavour profile of this intensely flavoured Tignanello that manages to be ripe and open, while retaining notable balance and freshness, although the tannins dry out a bit on the back end. This is a delicious Tignanello to enjoy now and over the next decade. The high altitude of the vineyards was clearly an asset in 2003.
The 2001 Tignanello is an object lesson in how to make Cabernet work with Sangiovese, the two varieties balancing and enhancing one another in admirable symbiosis. (The percentage of Cabernet, in fact, was reduced from the previous 20% to 15% in this vintage, an important sign - I hope - of how the wind is blowing.)
A blackish ruby, its perfectly focused plum and cassis fruit, given an additional complexity by notes of sweet herbs and saddle leather, is fully and completely shaped in flavours of impeccable volume, roundness, and depth, caressing and powerful and with an additional power on the close which promises another 15 years of gratifying drinking.
The 2000 Tignanello is showing more Cabernet than usual in the nose, a bit to the detriment of the Sangiovese. Dark and intense in colour with much plum and cassis fruit along with the graphite and Cabernet herbs, it is solid, tarry, minerally, and dense on the palate. The tannins are less round and supple than in better vintages, but this is a 2000.
During the recorking ceremony for the 1971 Tignanello, I had the opportunity to taste four editions of the wine spanning the four decades of its production. The 1997 Tignanello was by far the most enjoyable of these wines. It is experiencing a perfect moment in its drinking window. I found absolutely no imperfections in this wine.
Instead, the bouquet is generous and opulent with dark berry, spice, liquorice and leather. Much of the Tignanello vineyards were replanted in the 1990s so I expect that the fruit came from younger vines. The finish is silky and long in persistency.
