In the glass
Aroma: dark cherry, violet, leather, tobacco leaf, sweet spice
Palate: black plum, dried Mediterranean herbs, graphite, cedar
Sangiovese-led Super Tuscan with a Bordeaux skeleton: violet-and-cherry aromatics, firm graphite tannins and a long savoury finish that rewards bottle age.
What it pairs with
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Bistecca alla fiorentina
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Firm tannins cut through the marbling of a thick T-bone while the wine's cedar mirrors the charred crust. -
Wild boar pappardelle
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Gamey ragu finds a peer in Tignanello's leather and dried-herb register. -
Aged pecorino toscano
Crystalline sheep's-milk salt sharpens the wine's red-cherry lift. -
Slow-braised peposo
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The Florentine peppered beef stew echoes the wine's spice register and matches its weight.
History
Piero Antinori and Giacomo Tachis designed Tignanello as a deliberate break from Chianti Classico DOCG rules, blending Sangiovese with Cabernet and ageing in barrique. Declassified to vino da tavola at launch, the wine helped birth the Super Tuscan category and the eventual Toscana IGT.
- 1971 — First vintage released as vino da tavola, no Chianti Classico DOCG label
- 1978 — Cabernet Sauvignon added to the blend
- 1992 — Toscana IGT classification created, in part to accommodate wines like Tignanello
Facts
- Producer
- Marchesi Antinori
- Grapes
- Sangiovese (80%), Cabernet Sauvignon (15%), Cabernet Franc (5%)
- Classification
- Toscana IGT
- Oak
- 12 to 14 months in French and Hungarian oak barriques, around one third new
- ABV
- 14.0%
- Price
- EUR 100 to 160 at retail
- Drinking window
- 5 to 25 from vintage
- First vintage
- 1971
Scores
- Wine Advocate 96 (2019 vintage, reviewed 2022)
- Vinous 96 (2019 vintage, reviewed 2022)