Marchesi Antinori - Tignanello Tuscany 2021 (Pre-arrival) (750ml)
Price: $198.00
| Producer | Marchesi Antinori |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| Subregion | Toscana IGT |
| Varietal | Sangiovese |
| Vintage | 2021 |
| Sku | 8430 |
| Size | 750ml |
Wine Advocate: 98 Points
First made in 1971 this legendary Italian wine now celebrates its 50th birthday. Happy Birthday Tignanello! The Marchesi Antinori 2021 Tignanello (made with 79% Sangiovese 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc) pulls on all the heartstrings. To be released in May the wine shows a quintessentially pretty taste profile with tart fruit flavors redcurrant tea leaf heritage rose crushed white pepper licorice nutmeg clove and chopped mint. It opens slowly to reveal more richness and exuberance with time becoming downright voluptuous and heady a short while later. The through line however remains the bright freshness and minerality of Sangiovese. Compared to the 2018 vintage (which I also loved) this vintage has more overall fruit weight and volume. Marchesi Antinori General Manager Renzo Cotarella tells me that 2021 is the best vintage he has ever overseen. Ever. He prefers it to recent classics like 2016 and 2010. There was frost in the spring and the growing cycle was very long. This is something that most grapes and especially Sangiovese need in order to exhibit aromatic depth and flavor complexity. "This is an exceptional year" he says citing the inner energy certainly exhibited by the wines from 2021. I agree mostly but not unequivocally. I love the precision and tension inherent to these wines but I didn't encounter that same breathless vertical lift and linearity that I remember so well in 2016 for example. That was a vintage that managed to effortlessly balance both power and elegance which is by no means an easy feat. To me 2021 has the elegance but not the same piercing power that you only get in cooler vintages when sugar and phenolic ripening line up seamlessly. So while I love these wines especially the Chianti Classico Riserva Marchese Antinori and the outstanding Tignanello my money is still on 2016 as the better vintage speaking generally. But zoom in on one wine and my money is on the 2021 Tignanello over everything else. Published: Mar 21 2024
Vinous: 98 Points
The 2021 Tignanello is every bit as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel and then just after bottling. Silky and polished with exceptional finesse the 2021 has all the pedigree to become a modern benchmark for Tignanello and Italian wine more broadly. Bright dark red fruit blood orange spice cedar and sweet pipe tobacco all soar out of the glass framed by a discreet touch of French oak that adds raciness. In some vintages the elements are discernible. In San Casciano in Val Di Pesa (Chianti Classico Firenze) 2021 it is the total harmony of the wine that makes the strongest and deepest impression. The 2021 spent 17 months in wood three months in neutral oak during the malolactic fermentation and then 14 months (50% new) for the rest of its aging. Superb. I can?t say I am surprised by how magnificent the 2021s are at the Antinori family?s Tignanello estate as the wines were superb from the very beginning...Gentler winemaking a more refined use of oak in aging and an increase in Cabernet Franc in the wines are among the recent developments here. I can?t recommend these wines highly enough.
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