New wines from a (very) old producer
Posted by Joelle Thomson on
Antinori is the oldest continuous working winery in the world, not in the sense of being only in one place either. The Tuscany based Italian winemaking family may have been making wine for 27 generations now, but today they also own wineries in the north of Italy in Piemonte and Friuli as well as further afield. You name a place. They have a winery there. As of six years ago, Stag’s Leap in California was added to the Antinori stable, which also includes wineries in Washington State, Hungary, Chile and in Kyrgyztan, which is though to be the original place that wine was made into the world.
The main point is that Antinori is as much about innovation and experimentation as it is about tradition. "It" being the winemaking company and its members. This month, there was an outstanding tasting of a range of the flagship wines from Antinori, which we were thrilled to share at a paid event in our tasting room and also at a tasting off site, which one of our team members (yours truly) attended.
The two highlights of the tasting are the following two wines, one of which is out of stock but which is certainly more than worth waiting for and will be returning to New Zealand mid year. and the fact that we can innovate and sometimes make mistakes too and sometimes not succeed but the point is to experiment and find what works. We want to achieve elegance and balance. There was the trend of oaky wines in the 1980s and 1990s but we believe that
2020 Antinori Santa Cristina Toscana IGT RRP $25.99
This is a blend of Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese, all of which meld together beautifully in this smooth, soft, modern Italian red – very ripe with red berries, lush plum aromas and a medium body with typically Tuscan and Italianesque savoury flavours.
Buy here
2020 Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG RRP $69.99
Impressive, commanding, powerful silky tannins and high acidity – a very robust wine on nose and palate. Black cherry flavours with great concentration, smoky and cedary notes. Long, powerful and delicious now and can age well for five+ years, at least.