When you are a wine geek like me, and you see Tignanello is on the label, you must stop and look. Tignanello is celebrated for single-handedly changing history and raising the quality of wine in Tuscany by going against the law and creating a category of Super Tuscan wine. But it is also the name of one of the best and most celebrated vineyards in Chianti. So, let’s do a little historical review of Chianti that I’m sure you are all familiar with. Or maybe not.

Going back to the 13th century, Florence was the financial capital of Europe. The aristocracy of the like of the Medici or Frescobaldi had just invented banks. These affluent families controlled the finances of half of Europe. As a result, copious amounts of money spilled into Tuscany. The region’s nobility built grand and elegant villas in which to pursue their extravagant lifestyle. Vineyards and good wine were a natural extension of all this wealth. Curiously enough, the first records mentioning Chianti as a beverage described it as a white wine!

The recipe for making Chianti as we know it today was created in 1872 by Baron Bettino Ricasoli, the second Prime Minister of Italy. After years of experimentation, he determined that Chianti should be a red blend dominated by Sangiovese (for its bouquet and vigor), with the addition of Canaiolo to soften the wine. The addition of the white Malvasia grape was suggested for wines intended for early consumption but was discouraged for Chianti destined for cellaring. As was the norm in those days, production was geared to quantity, not quality. Almost everyone in the region was planting high-yielding clones in less-than-ideal spots for quality wine.

More problems lurked in the cellars, where winemaking had stagnated for decades. Wines were fermented in old, dirty wooden vats with no temperature control. Bacteria and undesirable yeast strains ran wild, literally. After fermentation, wine was transferred to age in old chestnut casks that were rarely cleaned. Low quality was the inevitable result, and it damaged the image of all Italian wines. If you had asked for a glass of Chianti in those days, you would probably have been given a pale, diluted red served in a typical fiasco-shaped bottle (straw-covered bottle.) Tuscany was not known for quality wine up to the 1960s.

In 1967 the Chianti DOC was created, and to be called a Chianti under this appellation, the “Ricaloli formula” became law. Wines were required to have 70-90% of red grape varieties and 10-30% of white varieties in the blend. Generous yields were also permitted. Although the DOC laws were an attempt to improve the quality of the wine in Tuscany, the wines could not compete on the world stage. This was the scene that Piero Antinori, at 28 years old, inherited when he, the 25^th generation Antinori, became head of the third oldest continually operated company in the world.

In the 1960s, Marchese Piero Antinori became concerned that Tuscan wines were perceived as low-quality bulk wine. Sangiovese had no identity and was mainly just a part of a blend for an insipid wine better known for the bottle used as a candle holder. To make Sangiovese wine more refined, Antinori traveled to various wine regions worldwide, mainly to California and Bordeaux, to study fine winemaking.

Inspired by the winemaking of Bordeaux, he set up the Marchese Antinori vineyard, which historically was called Tignanello vineyard – his best vineyard – for his experiments to preserve the rich cultural heritage of Italian grapes. Thanks to his friend Professor Peynaud, Marchese Antinori took enormous risks to make or break the family’s fortune. The Marchese chose not to use any white grapes in this new experimental Tuscan wine, which automatically lost his Chianti DOC and reduced his wine to a Table Wine designation. 

Pierro blended unconventional grape varieties into his cuvee, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Rather than use large neutral oak barrels for aging, which was the norm, he went with smaller fresh French oak barrels to mature his wines. All of these led to the creation of expensive, super-table wine from Tuscany. The wine was named after Antinori’s best vineyard, Tenuta Tignanello. A risky grand experiment that was immediately applauded by wine critics and connoisseurs alike and became an immediate collector’s item. So successful was Tignanello that soon the Italian Chianti DOC and DOCG changed their requirements, making white grapes optional (banned entirely as of 2006) and allowing up to 20% use of non-traditional grapes. As an Italian wine educator once told me, “In Italy, once a law is founded, soon they find a way around it.” Tignanello was released in 1974 for their first vintage of 1971 and still, today, leads as the best Chianti can offer, even though it is not a Chianti. In the 1970s, Italy needed a wine to mark it as a great wine nation. With Tignanello, Antinori delivered precisely that.

This leads us seamlessly into the meat of this offer. There is a Chianti Classico Riserva that Antinori offers from their best property in Chianti, the Tenuta Tignanello estate. Sourced from the same vineyards as its famed sibling, Tignanello and also Solaia, with the same winemaking team, same winery, and same house flavors. This wine was #7 on the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 for 2023, so we bought all that were allowed. After all, what’s not to love about Tignanello?

This Antinori family’s historic label, since the 2011 vintage Marchese Antinori, has been produced with grapes exclusively from the Tignanello vineyard. It’s made almost entirely with Sangiovese, with a small percentage of other complementary varieties. A wine that fully expresses the quality and elegance of Sangiovese grapes grown in this area.

The 2020 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva is an intense ruby red color. Expressive on the nose with fresh red fruit and floral notes. The rich bouquet is accented by sweet notes of white chocolate and spice. The palate is smooth and supple with elegant flavors with vibrant tannins and a persistent finish.

A sleek, elegant red, with fine purity to the aromas of cherry, black currant, iron, olive and tobacco. Shows new oak on the palate, lending both spice notes and structure offset by ample fruit and texture. Balanced, complex finish. Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2026 through 2047. #7 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2023 Wine Spectator 95 pts

Produced from vines of the Tenuta Tignanello estate, the 2020 Chianti Classico Riserva offers a flashier and riper style with notes of Marasca cherry liqueur, polished leather, toasted vanilla bean, and licorice candy. It is full bodied without being heavy and is rich with plum, cedar, sage, and potting soil. Raised in a combination of French and Hungarian oak barrels for approximately one year, the oak imprint is certainly felt but is very well managed, and the wine wears it well. Drink 2025-2040. Jeb Dunnuck 93 pts



The opulent nose of vanilla, milk chocolate, coconut shavings and Luxardo cherries is echoed and then exalted on a palate with high tones of Bing cherries and raspberries and low notes of dark chocolate and black licorice, and tautly wound tannins promising longevity. Wine Enthusiast 92 pts

Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2020, Tignanello Estate

I felt like the Pied-Eye Piper leading a line of wine geeks to our kitchen to try the Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2020 from the Tignanello vineyards. All anxiously wanting to try this wine of historical significance and awarded #7 in Wine Spectators Top 100. I was hoping this wine would live up to such a high bar. Once I opened the bottle and passed it around, I realized the wine cleared the high bar by a good amount. The wine poured a deep, opaque granite red. Initial aromas were of briar and bramble dark fruit with grilled mushrooms. Flavors continued in the mouth with dark cherry, black currant, black pepper, porcini mushroom, leather, and cigar tobacco. The wine has an excellent mouthfeel, silky and full-bodied, balanced by acid to keep all the fruit playfully alive. A long dark cherry finish with a blast of acid. We bought all that we could, but sadly, I feel we will sell out very quickly. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. 

Regular Price: $49.99

*Sale price is on 3 or more bottle purchase

Wine is packed in a 6-bottle case

Limit on 6/bottle case per customer

Quantities are very limited

*Wine pricing for these wine promotions are held for two weeks after the email offer.

We can hold wines in unpaid reserves for two weeks to allow you time to pick up your wine. If it takes you longer than that to pick up your wines, give us a call, and we can process your wine and move it to paid reserves.

Orders must be done by replying to this email. The reason is that I need to keep control of the inventory in one central spot. Emailing or calling your favorite wine geek at one of our four stores may not get your orders in on time to be counted or processed and this creates a helter-skelter for us to get you the wine. For the same reason, ordering on our online Web Store is linked to our regular price, and this sale price is only offered on the email platform. It is also why it takes me some time to respond due to the deluge of orders that I sometimes get. We haven't reached the efficiency or volume of Amazon yet. Thank you in advance for your patience.

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Cheers!

—John Hannum, Fine & Rare Wine Specialist

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