THE U.S. MAGAZINE “WINE ENTHUSIAST” GIVES THE PRESTIGIOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVMENT AWARD TO MARQUIS PIERO ANTINORI, HEAD OF THE HISTORIC TUSCAN WINEMAKING COMPANY

Marquis Piero Antinori, head of one of the most important winemaking companies in Italy and one that has marked its renaissance throughout the world, is the winner of the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award, the prestigious recognition given by the American magazine Wine Enthusiast (one of the most influential enological publications worldwide) for the great professional success that he has obtained throughout his lifetime.

This is one of the 11 prizes traditionally awarded by the magazine, and published in a special edition (in November). All of the winners will be officially awarded their prizes at a gala in the New York Public Library on January 26, 2009.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given each year to an exponent of the international wine community who has obtained exceptional results throughout his professional career. For his untiring contribution to the re-birth of Italian wine and for having brought Italian wine to the forefront on markets around the world, Piero Antinori has, this year, been honored with the seventh Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Antinori family has been producing wine in Tuscany and Umbria for over 600 years, or 26 generations and, since the beginning of the last century, the company has become famous for its scientific studies realized in both the vineyard and the winery.

Piero Antinori graduated in Economy and Commerce from the University of Florence and has travelled extensively, working alongside famed enologists such as Emile Peynaud. He began working in the family company in 1962 and became president in 1966 when his father retired. Over the past 25 years, Piero Antinori has combined, in a very original way, traditional and innovative winemaking techniques, redefining and improving Italian wine. He is responsible for the creation of a new line of wines with Tignanello, the prototype for the Super Tuscan category, which he came up with in 1970 and which was then successively used as a model by the most important Italian producers.

Apart from running his company, Antinori has also assumed some important roles in other associations: The Italian Producers Association, Exporters and Importers of Wine and Liquor, The Italian Wine Union, The Vino Novello Institute, and The Italian Academy of Vine and Wine.

And, not only has Antinori increased the quality and prestige of Italian wine throughout the globe, he has also passed on his dedication, intelligence, and passion for wine to his three daughters, ensuring that this new generation will continue a long tradition and innovation in the wine sector.