Italy · Tuscany

Antinori

The Marchesi Antinori family has produced wine in Tuscany since 1385, making it one of the oldest continuously operating wine dynasties in the world. Today the Florentine family, led by Piero Antinori and his daughters, oversees estates across Tuscany, Umbria, and Puglia, but their greatest contribution to wine history was the creation of the Super Tuscan category. In 1971, Piero Antinori and winemaker Giacomo Tachis released Tignanello — a blend of Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon aged in small French barriques rather than large Slavonian oak — which violated DOC regulations and was labelled simple Vino da Tavola. It sparked a revolution. Solaia, a Cabernet-dominant blend from the same vineyard, followed in 1978. These two wines remain the jewels of the Antinori portfolio, joined by their Chianti Classico Riserva Badia a Passignano and the Guado al Tasso estate in Bolgheri. The 1,200 hectares of Antinori vineyards span multiple Italian regions. At auction, Tignanello is one of the most actively traded Italian wines, beloved for its combination of Sangiovese elegance and Cabernet structure. Solaia commands even higher prices given its smaller production. Both wines benefit from decades of cellaring and represent the defining expression of modern Italian fine wine.