Antinori Dinner with Allegra Antinori

3 courses 3 Antinori Estates presented by the excellent and super vibrant Allegra Antinori (Her parents could not have picked a better name for her)
She took us through the history, the anecdotes of each estate ( Cervaro malolactic fermentation was by accident in 1986 as it was a hot autumn) and the Antinori vision.

Started in 1985 and was a disaster and the accidental malolactic fermentation in 1986 showed them the way towards a truly special white wine.
We always assumed this saw a lot of oak but indeed only fermentation in new barrels so approx 6 months.

• 2016 Castello della Sala (Antinori) Umbria Cervaro della Sala 92 Points

  Italy, Umbria

  Light in color, glossy straw color. Bright and fresh, energetic wine and really drinks very nicely now. Green fruits, light tropical touches, mineral, light waxy on the palate. Would be a good idea to actually decant this wine and really its so nice to drink now. 80% Chardonnay, 20% Grechetto, 6 month in new oak ( Alc & Malo Fermentation). 91-92

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• 2012 Castello della Sala (Antinori) Umbria Cervaro della Sala 89 Points

  Italy, Umbria

  A year and a half since we tried this last and is showing its age and actually given this is not a such a good vintage is on the way down. With the freshness gone is a bit on the dull and unimpressive side. At least the oak is assimilated more. Light citrus, quite a bit of honey touches and the color really shows the age too. 89 and drink sooner than later especially when compared to the 2016 vintage

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Their gem, the wine that started the Super Tuscans and put the family on the map in a way.

• 2015 Antinori Tignanello

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  From a great vintage but really too early. Dark in color, glossy, youthful. Lots of oak on the forefront, mocha,chocolate. Still underdeveloped and a bit monotonous and definitely needs a good decade to get to what it can be. Very promising but too Young for us to rate.

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• 2013 Antinori Tignanello 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  Albeit not the juicy and ripe vintage of the 2007 we had side by side this was special, spirited and energetic and in this was as good as the more celebrated 2007 (Papies 92).
  Herbaceous, spicy, well integrated and with nice balance. Leafy in way. Nice minerality too. Good 92 and just about entering its drinking window. 92

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• 2007 Antinori Tignanello 92 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT

  We have had this super vintage of Tignanello a few times and ratings have been 92-93.
  It continues along the right path, soft, round and well balanced wine, nice elegant side to it and indeed much like last year it has in a way a very obvious side and is a bit too smooth. We kinda liked the less obvious but more spirited 2013 ( Papies 92). A very good wine nonetheless. 92

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Their expression of Bolgheri ( a land owned pretty much by the granny and divided among her children who created Ornellaia & Sassicaia ).

• 2015 Tenuta Guado al Tasso (Antinori) Bolgheri Superiore

  Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore

  Dark and dense in color. Very much the young oaky bolgheri wine we expected. Took its time to develop and definitely an hour or so post opening it was a lot less aggressive but still this is a very young wine and unless one likes that rich super primary and oaky side this is one to age. Very fine tannin and very round on the edges. Too young for us to rate but much like the Tignanello 2015 we had before full of promise.

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• 2013 Tenuta Guado al Tasso (Antinori) Bolgheri Superiore 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore

  Relatively young vintages of this wine and so is the 2013 and so was the 2010 ( Papies 90) are interesting to start but sort of settle into a monotonous, blunt almost and one dimensional wines. There is nothing really to fault the wine, very well made, solid fruit, good acidity. But somehow it fails to excite us and deliver a magic side to the experience. Good Dark fruit, lots of palate presence and energy good amount of oak. Quite a forward on the fruit wine and maybe a touch too modern for us. 90

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• 2010 Tenuta Guado al Tasso (Antinori) Bolgheri Superiore 90 Points

  Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore

  Starts well but the sort of calling card of this wine ( much of the modern bolgheri style too) is that it fails to excite us. good dark fruit, nice use of oak and well mannered wine but still a bit monotonous with very little complexity. We used to love this wine and its kin when our wine journey begun ( we have some great memories of the 2001 Guado al Tasso) but in recent year sit fails to create the magic. A wine we cant fault but a wine that will not excite us. 90

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In general its not our top choice of wines but fascinating dinner to attend.