Tenuta Tignanello is a modern-day jewel in the collection of estates owned by the centuries-old Marchesi Antinori wine company. While the estate is world-famous for its eponymous Tignanello bottling, their winemaking prowess also shows in the more down-to-earth "2nd label," the "Marchese Antinori" Chianti Classico Riserva. Since it lies in the historic Chianti hill-country, it's appropriate that the estate makes a wine that so readily shows off that region's famous qualities.
Their Chianti Classico Riserva, like Tignanello, is a bit of a departure from the old ways, and it's what helped make the Antinori name famous worldwide. Their signature style starts with the partnering of native Sangiovese with around a 10% contribution from the French varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Sangiovese brings the mouthwatering vibrancy and warm, earthy tones; Cabernet Sauvignon brings in a textural sleekness and cooling balsam herb aromas; and a little Merlot adds a touch more fleshiness and round, plummy fruit tones. Another Antinori signature is aging their wine in small French oak barrels, something that wasn't done with Sangiovese-driven wines before Tignanello. It's expertly done here, enhancing the woodsy spice complexity and adding a light polish to the mouthfeel, making it even more enticing to enjoy soon!
What ultimately puts this wine on our "must-buy" list is the wonderful 2021 vintage that nature provided! Marchesi Antinori considers it to be among the best they've had, and it's clear they took advantage of it not only for Tignanello, but also this brilliant Chianti Classico Riserva! It's beautifully expressive with just a little time in the glass, with floral, fruit, earth and spice notes mingling in harmony. It's full-bodied, and swathed in ripe tones, reflecting the warm hills of the Val di Pesa, but imbued with a vivacious, mouthwatering inner energy and mineral sensations that extend into the persistent finish. While this is wonderful already with an hour or so in the decanter, it's one of those special wines that will enchant over the next 10-15 years!
Tignanello consistently makes it in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of the Year and last years bottling of Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva was rated #7 of 2023.
WINE SPECTATOR 95 POINTS - "This ripe style is fresh and harmonious, delivering plum, cherry and boysenberry fruit, with accents of earth, iron and eucalyptus. Supple in texture, with a beautifully integrated structure and long, complex aftertaste. Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2026 through 2043. 29,667 cases made, 5,833 cases imported."
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "This is one of the big surprises of this tasting and ultimately represents one of the best buys in the entire extended Marchesi Antinori portfolio. The 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva Tenuta Tignanello Marchese Antinori shares the DNA of Tignanello. It is Sangiovese kissed with small parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Of course, the wine is more accessible and open compared to Tignanello, and spiritually, this wine is a Chianti Classico. By that I mean that the elegant minerality of these soils and the sunny flavors of its environs are the determining characteristics. You get wildflower, iris, tart fruit and plum. The wine's enhanced mineral character, with dusty white rock, is what adds lasting complexity and depth."
Their Chianti Classico Riserva, like Tignanello, is a bit of a departure from the old ways, and it's what helped make the Antinori name famous worldwide. Their signature style starts with the partnering of native Sangiovese with around a 10% contribution from the French varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Sangiovese brings the mouthwatering vibrancy and warm, earthy tones; Cabernet Sauvignon brings in a textural sleekness and cooling balsam herb aromas; and a little Merlot adds a touch more fleshiness and round, plummy fruit tones. Another Antinori signature is aging their wine in small French oak barrels, something that wasn't done with Sangiovese-driven wines before Tignanello. It's expertly done here, enhancing the woodsy spice complexity and adding a light polish to the mouthfeel, making it even more enticing to enjoy soon!
What ultimately puts this wine on our "must-buy" list is the wonderful 2021 vintage that nature provided! Marchesi Antinori considers it to be among the best they've had, and it's clear they took advantage of it not only for Tignanello, but also this brilliant Chianti Classico Riserva! It's beautifully expressive with just a little time in the glass, with floral, fruit, earth and spice notes mingling in harmony. It's full-bodied, and swathed in ripe tones, reflecting the warm hills of the Val di Pesa, but imbued with a vivacious, mouthwatering inner energy and mineral sensations that extend into the persistent finish. While this is wonderful already with an hour or so in the decanter, it's one of those special wines that will enchant over the next 10-15 years!
Tignanello consistently makes it in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of the Year and last years bottling of Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva was rated #7 of 2023.
WINE SPECTATOR 95 POINTS - "This ripe style is fresh and harmonious, delivering plum, cherry and boysenberry fruit, with accents of earth, iron and eucalyptus. Supple in texture, with a beautifully integrated structure and long, complex aftertaste. Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Best from 2026 through 2043. 29,667 cases made, 5,833 cases imported."
WINE ADVOCATE 94 POINTS - "This is one of the big surprises of this tasting and ultimately represents one of the best buys in the entire extended Marchesi Antinori portfolio. The 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva Tenuta Tignanello Marchese Antinori shares the DNA of Tignanello. It is Sangiovese kissed with small parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Of course, the wine is more accessible and open compared to Tignanello, and spiritually, this wine is a Chianti Classico. By that I mean that the elegant minerality of these soils and the sunny flavors of its environs are the determining characteristics. You get wildflower, iris, tart fruit and plum. The wine's enhanced mineral character, with dusty white rock, is what adds lasting complexity and depth."
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