Marchesi Antinori - Tignanello 2011

Antinori - Tignanello 2011 (92 TSW)
Last week we had a great tasting with 17 different wines. One of these wines was the Tignanello 2011.

The hot and dry growing season required a careful and attentive selection during all the salient moments of harvesting operations. During the fermentation and the period of skin contact in the conical fermenting tanks, the must was gradually transformed into wine.

After its separation from the skins, the wine was put through complete malolactic fermentation – in barrel – to add additional finesse and drinking pleasure. A 12-14 month aging in French and Hungarian oak barrels, some new, some already used once, then began; during this period, the various lots, fermented and aged separately by variety and by vineyard variability, matured in the oak and were then blended a few months before bottling.

My tasting notes:

In the glass a dark ruby red color.
On the medium(+) nose aromas of cranberries, dark cherries and plums with hints of dark chocolate, smoke, tobacco and baking spice.
On the palate dry, full bodied with medium acidity and medium tannins. Very elegant with a great mouthfeel calling flavours of cassis, cedar, licorice, vanilla, spices, mushrooms and chocolate. Smooth and long aftertaste.

Tignanello was the first Sangiovese to be aged in barriques, the first contemporary red wine blended with untraditional varieties (specifically Cabernet) and one of the first red wines in the Chianti Classico region that didn’t use white grapes. Tignanello is a milestone. It’s produced with a selection of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

The label was designed by Silvio Coppola in 1974 for the release of Tignanello 1971. The idea to commission this artist was discussed at an event at Castello della Sala in 1973.

Marchese Piero Antinori, the current Honorary President, decided to have his father, Niccolò Antinori, sign the label as a sign of recognition for his father’s confidence in him.