Antinori Solaia Vertical Tasting

'Wine makes the world a better place,"

Piero Antinori

And Wine Watch is definitely making the world a better place!  Check out all the great wine tastings we have coming up on the calendar over the next few weeks.  I am trying to keep us drinking at a very high level all summer long. 

So, when our good friend Erik from the Antinori Family suggested we host a vertical tasting of this iconic Tuscan producers’ top wine Solaia- I said how about the next available date we have in the wines bar. 

Join us as we experience 7 vintages of Solaia back to the outstanding 2001 vintage along with several other wines from the Tignanello property on Friday, June 26th.   The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $395 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Antinori Solaia Vertical Tasting with Special Guest Erik Saccomani

Friday, June 26, 2020

7:30 PM



2016 Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva Tenuta Marchese

Price: $45.00       Your Price: $39.60

This rounded, full-bodied wine is the result of careful selection of the best Sangiovese and Cabernet grapes grown in the Tignanello vineyard. The wine is placed in new barriques where it completes malolactic fermentation by the end of the year and is aged in barriques for about 14 months. This is followed by 12 months maturing in the bottles.  A very concentrated bouquet with lots of red berry fruit fresh earth porcini mushroom and fine herbs very distinct Tuscan character.  Smooth and polished on the palate with a good amount of red berry fruit, dusty tannins and that distinct earthy character long layered finish.  Finish 45+  Excellent +

2017 Antinori Tignanello

Price: $141.00    Sale Price: $124.00

(96 Points) The Marchesi Antinori 2017 Tignanello (made with Sangiovese and smaller parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc) is a dark, exuberant and inviting wine. I tasted my sample after a double decanting and was pleased by the profound nature of the wine and the immediate openness of the aromas. There is a symphony of dark fruit with black cherry, plum, spice and sweet tobacco. I am particularly attracted by a distant hint of medicinal or menthol herb that I also discovered in other wines with fruit from the Tignanello estate in 2017. There's a drying mineral note of crushed chalk as well. The heat and dryness of the vintage has added to the aromatic intensity of the wine (yields were reduced by a third), but the mouthfeel is carefully crafted to maintain its softness and smoothness. Fruit comes from a 57-hectare section of the Tenuta Tignanello from a vineyard that is located 390 meters above sea level with Alberese limestone rock and soils of marine origin. The wine is fermented in conical oak tanks and is aged up to 16 months in a combination of mostly French and some Hungarian oak, both new and neutral.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2008 Antinori Tignanello Tuscany

(94 Points) The 2008 Tignanello is unquestionably one of the wines of the vintage. The 2008 isn’t a huge or obvious Tignanello, rather it is a wine that impresses for its sublime elegance and precision. Understated layers of fruit caress the palate like cashmere in this impeccable, soft wine. There is not a hard edge to be found. Black cherries, tobacco, smoke and licorice are some of the notes that come through on the finish. The flavor profile is decidedly on the dark side, but the wine’s structure is medium in body and intensity. In 2008 the Tignanello has more energy, focus and length than the Solaia. It is a fabulous achievement! The 2008 Tignanello is 80% Sangiovese aged in 300-liter French oak barrels (1/3rd new), 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, both aged in 100% new 225-liter French oak barriques. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2001 Antinori Solaia Tuscany

(96 Points) The 2001 Solaia, far superior to the overrated 1997 (to which I also prefer the 1999 and 1994) is a classic example of central Tuscan Cabernet at its best, ruby-purple in color, warm and explosive in its expression of black currant fruit, tobacco, tar, and graphite, superbly concentrated and dense on the palate but balanced and shapely at the same time and with a noble austerity and grip on the finish which resembles the best of Bordeaux. The wine is a sure bet for another two decades of superb drinking.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2004 Antinori Solaia Tuscany

(96 Points) Shows beautiful, complex aromas of flowers, currant and Christmas cake. Full-bodied, chewy and powerful. Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc. Best after 2010. 5,835 cases made. –JS Wine Spectator Buying Guide October 15, 2007

2008 Antinori Solaia Tuscany

Price: $450.00    Sale $396.00

(93 Points) The 2008 Solaia is richer and darker than the Tignanello, but it isn’t an appreciably more complex or complete wine. It shows gorgeous depth and textural richness to match an expressive core of blackberry jam, smoke, scorched earth, crushed rocks and cassis. This is a beautiful wine, but not as great as I had hoped. The 2008 Solaia is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese and 5% Cabernet Franc, aged in 100% new oak. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.  Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2009 Antinori Solaia Tuscany

Price: $412.50    Your Price: $363.00

(96 Points) The 2009 Solaia is one of the clear standouts of the vintage. Freshly cut flowers, raspberries, spices, mint and licorice burst from the glass as this fabulous, viscerally thrilling wine shows off its pure class. Today the oak is a bit prominent, but that won’t be an issue by the time the wine is ready to drink. In one of my blind tastings, the 2009 Solaia was flat-out great. There is no shortage of pedigree here. The 2009 has calmed down a little from its youth, when it was a much more exuberant wine, and has now begun to close down in bottle. Solaia is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Sangiovese and 5% Cabernet Franc from a single parcel within the Antinori family’s Tignanello vineyard. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029.

Longtime winemaker Renzo Cotarella has done a fabulous job with the flagships Tignanello and Solaia in 2009. In my blind tastings the pedigree of those two wines in particular came through with notable eloquence. The 2010 Tignanello and Solaia are both thrilling at this stage. They could very well turn out even better than the 2009s. Readers may want to look at my short video on the 2010s from Antinori on our website. Wine Advocate #201, Jun 2012

2011 Antinori Solaia Tuscany

Price: $450.00    Sale $396.00

(91 points) I’m not fully convinced by the 2011 Solaia. It is a hedonistic and heady expression for sure, but it doesn’t come near the 97 points I awarded the 2010 vintage. In fact, the bouquet here is very ripe with thick tones of strawberry and blackberry folded within tobacco, leather and sweet spice. Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc offer flavors of rum cake and candied fruit. There’s a good amount of tannic firmness surrounded by thick extract and fleshiness. (ML)  (10/2014) Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2013 Antinori Solaia Tuscany

Price: $390.00    Your Price: $343.20

(97 Points) The best vintages of Solaia are 1990, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010 and now 2013. Marchesi Antinori's 2013 Solaia is a profound and meaningful wine that is based mostly on Cabernet Sauvignon with Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc in supporting roles. It sports a dark and thick texture with plump fruit and spice, grilled herb and black pepper. The bouquet is intense and layered with the kind of complexity that is best admired as the wine shifts and evolves in the glass. The textual impact is also impressive—you feel the inherent power and the structure, but these elements are never overdone. The best is yet to come; this Solaia is built for long cellar aging. 97+ Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

2016 Antinori Solaia Toscana

Price: $412.50    Your Price: $363.00

(100 points)  I fussed over scoring this wine more than I'd like to admit—tasting through three samples under different conditions at various intervals and testing my impressions blind against wines in its peer group. Most importantly, I tasted this 2016 vintage against the 2015 vintage over and over again. I confess to a few nights of restless sleep as a result. Ultimately, my decision to award 100 points to the 2016 Solaia came on impulse and with the most natural sense of purpose. I had also given the 2015 vintage a perfect score, and intellectually, it seemed impossible not to pick a favorite among these two stunning expressions. I will also state, outright, that the wines are very different, principally because the 2015 vintage shows more overall opulence and sweetness that extends to the pronounced textural richness of the mouthfeel. The 2016 vintage, on the other hand, is more chiseled and sharp with mineral shadings of campfire ash and graphite at the rim of its dark fruit. The mouthfeel is more streamlined and tight at its core, suggesting that the wine will unfold and soften beautifully with time. I feel like 2015 is the Dolce & Gabbana of the situation and the 2016 is the Armani Privé. The personalities of the two wines are distinct, yet my admiration for each is identical.Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 09/2019

Menu

Charcuterie and Cheese Selections - Prosciutto di Parma Reggiano Parmesan

Tuscan White Bean Soup with Ciabatta Pecorino Crouton

Tuna Carpaccio with grilled wild mushrooms and Sage Aioli

 Cabernet Sauvignon Braised Beef Shortrib with Mole Natural Sauce and Vegetable Risotto

Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with a fresh blueberry Compote

The fee for this tasting which includes Dinner is $395 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com. Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any dietary restrictions and Chef Toni will be happy to accommodate you. 

A bit about Antinori:

When you’re on top it seems like everyone wants to knock you off but there is something about being the genuine article that makes it hard for others to make you look bad when you are so good.  Wine Watch has been promoting and selling the wines from the Antinori family of wineries from the day the doors opened here in 1983 and to this day the only thing that has changed is that there are a lot more Antinori wines to offer our Wine Drinking People.

We just celebrated our 32nd Birthday here at Wine Watch and I have had several people mention that I am not old enough to have founded the store that long ago as I was just entering my first year of high school and it is hard for me to believe that it was 17 years ago, May 1st 1989 that I bought the Wine Watch from its founder Jim Turner.

Jim was a legend here in the South Florida wine circles.  He was a triple threat, a wine merchant, sommelier at Cafe Maxx and was the senior staff writer for The Wine News magazine.  I can't take credit for creating our fantastic gift box presentation, it was Jim's attention to detail that was the mastermind behind one of the things that makes Wine Watch one of the most unique wine stores in the country.  We not only send you great wines in a beautiful presentation but we also have great information on these wines which our founder Jim Turner left us hundreds of winery profiles like this one below on the greatest producer from Italy, Antinori.

Of course things have changed a bit since Jim passed me the torch in 1998 so I have had to update these profiles over the years but Jim's talent as a wine writer is unadulterated in this sheet he penned about the Antinori winery.

Antinori - One of the greatest names in winedom

Antinori is indisputably the greatest name in Italian winedom" said Robert Parker in the December 1989 issue of The Wine Advocate, where Antinori was named one of the world's top twelve wine producers for 1989.  Although Parker's opinions carry considerable weight in the world of wine, he is not the first to praise Antinori.  In March of 1985 Piero Antinori was the subject of a cover story in The Wine Spectator, where he was dubbed "Chianti's Tastemaker".  Alexis Lichine who once said that "Quantity is the enemy of quality" would no doubt find it difficult to accept the fact that one of Italy's largest wine producers (production of the Antinori wines now exceeds well over one million cases annually) is also quite possibly her best!

The family of Piero Antinori has been making wine in Tuscany for over 600 years, but it was not until the early 1970's that the Antinoris began to make an impact on the future of Chianti and the future of Italian wine.  Italy's great wine renaissance, now underway for at least twenty years, really began with Antinori.  Under the leadership of its dynamic and innovative owner, fifty-five year old Piero Antinori, the Antinori winery sparked and then led Italy's quality revolution.  Back in the early 1970's, Americans thought of Chianti as light, acidic simple wines whose outstanding attribute was the finish - i.e. what you did with the bottle (use if for a candle holder) when you were finished.  Now Americans and the world are coming to understand that Chianti, especially Chianti Classico, can be as rich and as complex as some of the best Bordeaux and California red wines.  Antinori, himself, is a reticent man - reluctant to call himself a trendsetter.  When Antinori began making changes in the early 1970's, his peers in Tuscany chastised him and resisted his innovative ideas - they even ridiculed him.

One of Antinori's first innovations was the now famous Tignanello, first commercially produced in 1971.  Tignanello is made up mostly of the primary red grape of Chianti, Sangiovese, a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon (15%) and a tiny amount of Cabernet Franc (5%).  Tignanello was a radical departure for those times, for it was one of the first reds ever produced in the Chianti zone without the traditional addition to the blend of a required minimum amount of white wine.  This practice as well as a number of other now discredited traditions were the reasons Antinori also quit the Chianti Classico Consortium, the area's growers' association.  Antinori said: "We quit because everybody could put the same seal on their bottles as Antinori.  And the overall quality of their wines was not good."  Antinori believed that the reds of Chianti lacked the body and richness they once had because of changes in viticulture, vinification, and climatic conditions.  Even though Antinori considered the 100 year old formula of adding up to 30% white grapes to the Chianti blend established in the 1800's by Barone Ricasoli to be outdated, the rest of Chianti's producers followed it religiously.  "We came to the conclusion that it was practically impossible to produce any great wines in Chianti anymore."

Antinori and his winemaker, Giacomo Tachis, began refining his viticultural practices and cut the addition of white grapes to the minimum 10% - their Tignanello innovation junked the white grapes completely and replaced them with 10% Cabernet.  Antinori also introduced the concept of barriques - new Bordeaux barrels in which to age the wines.  In 1970 Antinori had 25 barrels - now he has over 5000.  He claims to be the largest user of small barrels in Italy.  Antinori admits that many of these changes were not new to the wine world.  He got his ideas from numerous trips to Bordeaux and to California, and Bordeaux's famous enologist, Emile Peynaud, often consulted with him.  That Antinori was right and his peers wrong is now established for the record; most of Antinori's former radical ideas are now part of Italy's new DOCG laws.

Antinori's Tignanello continued to grow in stature and international prestige.  Recent vintages of Tignanello have been outstanding, and the price has continued to escalate (new vintages have been released in excess of $50 a bottle.)   The success of Tignanello has had an enormous impact on other producers in Tuscany - there are now a number of Chianti producers who are experimenting with high priced blends.  In addition to Tignanello, Antinori produces an explosively rich and concentrated wine called Solaia, a blend of 75 % Cabernet Sauvignon,  20% Sangiovese and 5% Cabernet Franc.  In the past year Antinori released his first Cabernet based wine from Bolgheri, Guado al Tasso (where the Badger crosses the road)  this wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 10% Syrah, it may become the next Tignanello.   Antinori has experience with more grape varietals outside of the thousands of traditional Italian varietals than anyone else in Italy.

Antinori makes several different Chiantis all of which are Chianti Classico, meaning that they all come vineyards located in the historic epicenter of the Chianti region.  He used to make a straight Chianti from his Santa Cristina estate, but the ever watchful eye of Piero saw a trend toward varietal popularity in the world market and decided to give the main grape of Chianti its due.  Thus, the most inexpensive red wine in the portfolio, Santa Cristina became known as Sangiovese di Toscana (Sangiovese of Tuscany).  The other Chiantis are all some of the highest quality wines in their respective price range.  The most inexpensive wine is from the Badia a Passignano estate.  It is here where the Antinoris carry out many of the viticultural experiments that will take them into the 21st century.  When Piero purchased this property back in 1988, he kept the vineyards and use of the monastery cellar, but gave the abbey back to the Vallombrosan monks who had been ousted by the Italian government in the preceding century.  As a result, the monks were re-united with their thousand-year old mother-abbey for the first time in 121 years.  The next level up is the Chianti from their Villa Antinori estate.  This wine was first introduced by Piero’s father Niccolo in 1928 and it has become the benchmark for Chianti Classico Riserva.  Like all of his Chiantis and Super Tuscan wines they are only produced in vintages that yield grapes of excellent quality.  In 1992, the vintage was so poor the only red wine that Antinori made from his Chianti vineyards was Santa Cristina.  Not many people in the wine world are so quality minded- to let their pride stand in front of their checkbook.

Written by the Late Great Jim Turner 1998.