“Top 100” 2024 by “Wine Spectator”: Tignanello 2021 by Antinori, a myth of Italian wine at No.3

50 years ago, in 1974, Marchesi Antinori presented its first vintage of Tignanello, 1971, launching an icon wine of Italy in the world, the first one of “Super Tuscan”, and amongst the motors of the Renaissance of Italian wine. And today, Tignanello 2021 confirms itself amongst the great wines in the world, getting on the podium (at No. 3) of the “Top 100” by “Wine Spectator”, the ranking considered to be the most influential on world markets (after having already been No. 5 in the same ranking in 2022, with the 2019 vintage, ed.). Therefore, in a “Top 10” that, waiting for “the wine of the year” which will be revealed tomorrow, and which in 2023 was Brunello di Montalcino 2018 by Argiano, will count at least two Italian wines, with Tignanello (which celebrates 50 years of history with many initiatives, including an extraordinary auction with all “ex Cellar” vintages , which will be auctioned off at Christie’s on November, 26-27 in London), and Barolo Albe 2020 by G.D. Vajra, at No.9.
And, overall, it definitely speaks American, and mainly Californian, basing on the fact that at No.2 there is Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Georges de Latour Private Reserve 2021 by Beaulieu Vineyard, and at No.4 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2021. They add to Cabernet Sauvignon Stags Leap District 2021 by Chimney Rock, still from California at No.5, to Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills 2022 by Drouhin Oregon Roserock, the winery located in Oregon belonging to French Maison Joseph Drouhin at No.6, preceding, at No.7, Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau 2020 by Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, and, at No.8 Pinot Noir Russian River Valley Eastside Road Neighbors 2022 by Williams Selyem. To conclude the “Top 10” there is Chardonnay Russian River Valley 2022 by Ramey.
“Fifty years later, Tignanello never ceases to surprise me, vintage after vintage”, its creator, Marchese Piero Antinori, told WineNews, who, with Albiera Antinori, president Marchesi Antinori, with the support of sisters Allegra and Alessia Antinori, and enologist and Ceo Renzo Cotarella, in a tasting through five decades of this great wine, recounted his fondest memories related to Tignanello (video here), born with winemaker Giacomo Tachis, and the “blessing” of the master of Italian food and wine journalism Luigi Veronelli - a wine to which my family and I are deeply attached and which represents for us a never-ending challenge, an obsession to improve, to always question ourselves, to find ever higher quality margins. Just a few months ago we replanted the last part of the Tignanello hillside vineyard, and as chance would have it, it was during this anniversary. For over six centuries our family has had a deep connection with the city of Florence, the world of wine and art. The 50th anniversary of Tignanello has given us the opportunity to unite and pay homage to these three elements that are particularly close to our hearts, in the name of the Renaissance, both wine and art”.
Tignanello was born with the first vintage in 1971 - on the market, it will be released in 1974, ed - from 76,682 vines of an ancient Chianti vineyard, known as Tignanello, located 390 meters above sea level, on hilly terrain rich in alberese and galestro, on the Estate in the heart of Chianti Classico that like the vineyard has the same name, now 57 hectares facing southwest. A wine conceived as the first Sangiovese to be aged in barriques, the first modern red wine blended with non-traditional varieties (such as Cabernet), and among the first red wines in Chianti Classico not to use white grapes, made from a selection of Sangiovese and Cabernet. A Bordeaux with an unmistakable Italian touch. But Tignanello is also among the first wines to carry the name of its vineyard on the label. Out of all specifications, revolutionary in everything, it also paved the way for the positioning in terms of value of Italian wine in the world’s markets, and in the desires of collectors. It is a milestone, a wine capable of fully representing the spirit of “Te Duce Proficio”, the Antinori family motto meaning “Under your guidance I proceed”.