1981 Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva Villa Antinori

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 90.5 points

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  8/15/2022 - thesternowl wrote: 91 Points

  Pulled from my cellar, popped and poured and presented double-blind to the group. In the glass, the wine appears a deep garnet with a translucent core, a slightly orange rim and some signs of fine sediment on the glass. On the nose, the wine is mature with initial notes of Tootsie Roll and old leather bound books. However after about 40min in the glass, the nose brightens up and begins to show more varietal characteristics: cherries, desiccated flowers, fennel, damp earth, leather and espresso. On the palate, the wine is bone dry and the tannin’s are still quite firm. Acid is medium+ and the finish is long. Alcohol is medium. A very lovely mature wine! Guesses were all in Italy but further north in Piemonte (Barbaresco mostly) and much, much younger with most settling on late 90’s. I don’t drink a lot of modern wines from Antinori but this was quite the charmer with 41 years of age on it. If anyone has any well stored examples, drink now with about 30min of air. That being said, there is enough life for these to soldier on for another 5-10 but this is very clearly in the twilight of its life. Something else of note: the cork was extracted completely intact. It was one of those cute little stubby ones more typical of the time.

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  2/12/2022 - VDLT Wine Likes this wine:

  Given the awful cellar conditions this wine endured, the cork, color and wine were all remarkably healthy. Nothing great but just a nice mature Chianti

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  8/30/2020 - VDLT Wine Likes this wine:

  As the night went on, this kept getting better and better. It tasted and smelled more of good old Bordeaux than Chianti or Sangiovese per se. but given the abysmal cellar this was rescued from, it was enjoyable, interesting and very engaging.

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  8/10/2013 - mattsix wrote:

  Not much going on, but fun to check in on. It was a good bottle, just dead.

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  12/27/2011 - Weston3220 wrote:

  This wine on open was done as in nothing really there, and a touch of old mustyness. It wasn't oxidized like the last bottle but over the hill

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View all 6 Community Tasting Notes

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