2018 Antinori Toscana Tignanello 375ml

2018 Antinori Toscana Tignanello 375ml

2018 Antinori Toscana Tignanello 375ml; Tuscany, Italy

(RP 98) This wine brought to mind precise imagery of tailcoats, striped dress pants, wingtip collar shirts and other gentlemen’s fashion choices from the Roaring Twenties. Sporting a retro but classic personality, the Marchesi Antinori 2018 Tignanello is quite the dapper and jovial wine that hits the market just as much of the world is emerging from a dark chapter of lockdowns and coronavirus curfews. I love the optimism that springs bright with such clarity and detail from within this blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The 2016 vintage was a benchmark for sure, but I prefer the 2018, thanks to that tinge of nostalgia or emotion that is so deftly rendered in this cool, long growing season.

Cabernet – Sangiovese blended wines are one of the success stories of 20th-Century Italian winemaking. In the 1960s and 1970s, enterprising producers from Tuscany began to experiment with the Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc (as well as Merlot), blending it with the region’s staple Sangiovese variety. Nowadays, the blend represents modern Italian winemaking, being behind some of Italy’s most famous wines.The blend balances the distinctive black-cherry and wild-berry flavors of Sangiovese against the structure and power of Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Franc also occasionally appears in the blend, adding depth and spicy elegance. Acid and tannins are seldom lacking in these wines and, with appropriate barrel maturation, they can age well for many years.

Toscana IGT is the most popular and famous of Italy’s Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) titles. It encapsulates the entire region, with the Toscana IGT label permitted on wine produced in any of Tuscany’s ten provinces.Free from the stylistic constraints imposed on DOCG and DOC wines.

Antinori is a Tuscany-based wine company that is one of the largest and most prominent in Italy. The Chianti Classico region forms the focus of operations, though the company has interests in various countries, and around 20 million bottles are produced annually across 150 labels.