# Tignanello

- **Producer:** Marchesi Antinori
- **Colour:** red
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc
- **Region:** Toscana, Italy
- **Style:** Classic
- **Alcohol:** 14.0%
- **Average price:** €180
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 16–18 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** cherry, plum, blackcurrant, mint, white pepper, vanilla, cloves, toast, cedar, leather, tobacco, forest floor

## About this wine

Tignanello is the iconic flagship wine of Marchesi Antinori, a historic Italian winemaking family whose heritage spans over 26 generations since 1385. Produced from a single 77-hectare vineyard at Tenuta Tignanello in the Chianti Classico zone, this historic cuvée revolutionized Tuscan winemaking in the 1970s. By blending Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, and eliminating white grapes from the blend, Antinori birthed the world-renowned Super Tuscan category. The wine's famous label was designed in 1974 by Silvio Coppola and features the family's crest and sun symbol.

## Interesting facts

- First Sangiovese-based wine to be aged in small oak barriques.
- First modern Tuscan red to blend Sangiovese with non-indigenous Bordeaux varieties.
- Created the legendary Super Tuscan category by stepping outside traditional Chianti Classico rules.
- Produced strictly in top vintages, skipped in poor years like 1972, 1984, and 2002.

## Food pairing

Tignanello's structured tannins and vibrant natural acidity require rich, high-protein dishes. Proteins and fats in red meats and wild game soften the wine's firm tannins, while its lively Tuscan acidity cuts effortlessly through heavy sauces and aged cheeses.

## Wine making process

Harvested manually from the southwest-facing Tignanello vineyard situated at 350 to 400 meters elevation on limestone and schist soils. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled truncated conical oak tanks with skin maceration focused on smooth tannin extraction. Malolactic fermentation occurs in small oak barrels. The wine is aged for 13 to 16 months in French and Hungarian oak barrels, followed by an additional 12 months of bottle aging prior to release.