The Antinori family rightfully belongs to the aristocracy of world wine.
Marquis Piero Antinori and his daughters Albiera, Alessia and Allegra represent the twenty-sixth generation of a family-run estate. Since 1385 it has managed to blend attachment to the traditions of a territory with the scale of a very great wine-producing reality, capable of producing 20 million bottles across 1700 hectares of vineyard in the four corners of the planet.
The courage of Tignanello
The courage of great choices allowed Piero Antinori, in the seventies, during a period when the world scene was dominated only by French wines, to create Tignanello.
That is, a truly great wine, inspired by France, the product of innovative choices in the vineyard, where the conversation began to turn to yield per vine, control of fermentation temperatures and the use of 225-litre French oak barriques for aging the wine.
Tignanello comes to life in the heart of Chianti Classico near Florence, produced with Sangiovese and a portion of Cabernet Sauvignon, relaunching what is considered the renaissance of Italian wine.
Tignanello would open the door to those Tuscan wines outside the disciplinari, which the Americans would dub Super Tuscans.
Solaia: recognition of excellence
A renaissance that reaches its greatest splendor when Antinori produces Solaia, Cabernet Sauvignon, Franc and Sangiovese, which in 1997 was judged by Wine Spectator as the best wine in the world.
From Umbria to France
The Antinori family's interests extend all the way to Umbria, drawn by a historic estate with ancient origins reaching back to the Middle Ages:
Castello della Sala in Ficulle, in the province of Terni.
It stands on a tufa promontory of the Umbrian Apennines, just 18 kilometres from Orvieto. A very distinctive territory dominated by traditional white grape varieties including Grechetto and international ones, among which Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Riesling stand out.
From these grapes comes a sweet wine that brings us back to Piero Antinori's love for France: the Muffato della Sala.
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