Antinori - Marchese Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva 2021

JAMES SUCKLING: "Impressive cherry and berry fruit with hints of cedar and dried flowers. It’s medium-bodied, firm and bright with a long, nicely tannined finish. This can age, but I like the tension and drive to this now. Baby Tignanello. Sangiovese with 10% cabernet. Drink or hold."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "This is one of the big surprises of this tasting and ultimately represents one of the best buys in the entire extended Marchesi Antinori portfolio. The 2021 Chianti Classico Riserva Tenuta Tignanello Marchese Antinori shares the DNA of Tignanello. It is Sangiovese kissed with small parts of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Of course, the wine is more accessible and open compared to Tignanello, and spiritually, this wine is a Chianti Classico. By that I mean that the elegant minerality of these soils and the sunny flavors of its environs are the determining characteristics. You get wildflower, iris, tart fruit and plum. The wine's enhanced mineral character, with dusty white rock, is what adds lasting complexity and depth."

VINUM: "Dunkles purpur im Glas. Getrocknete rote Früchte, dazu kommen florale Noten wie Jasminblüte und Rosenblätter, auch schwarzer Rauchtee, mit Luft auch Schwarzkirsche. Am Gaumen präsent mit roter Frucht, wiederum Teeblätter, ein Hauch Bittermandel. Tannine präsent, aber gut verwoben, Säure die den Körper stützt und ihm Kraft gibt. Hat Biss und viel Klasse."

DECANTER: "Among this estate's 130 hectares of vines in San Casciano Val di Pesa are the Tignanello and Solaia vineyards. This Riserva is fermented in stainless steel, undergoing a spontaneous malolactic fermentation and ageing in French and Hungarian oak barriques for 12 months before bottling. An old vintage, 2010, impressed us all in 2023 by topping the leaderboard at our ‘Ageing Chianti Classico’ panel tasting, and this 2021 equally has plenty of potential. It oozes with menthol, fresh hedgerow berries and some baked currants. There's plenty of fruit intensity, backed by well integrated wood structure, and it keeps quite a vertical profile in the mouth which helps to belie its density. Powdery tannins coat the cheeks, balanced by fresh acidity, while the inherent juiciness of the fruit waits to be unlocked with time."

FALSTAFF: "Dunkel leuchtendes Rubinrot, aufhellender Rand. Ansprechende Nase nach feinem Edelholz, kaltem Rauch, reife Kirschfrucht und reife Waldbeeren im Nachhall. Am Gaumen mit toller Kompaktheit, Säure und Frucht sind an ihrem Platz, kraftvoll, ausgewogen, zugänglich."