#3 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 for 2024
#8 on Vinous Top 100 for 2024
#5 on Wine Spectator's Top 100 for 2022 ~ 2019 vintage
98-Points by Vinous & Wine Advocate.
 
98 ~ Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
First made in 1971, this legendary Italian wine now celebrates its 50th birthday. Happy Birthday, Tignanello! The Marchesi Antinori 2021 Tignanello (made with 79% Sangiovese, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 8% Cabernet Franc) pulls on all the heartstrings. To be released in May, the wine shows a quintessentially pretty taste profile with tart fruit flavors, redcurrant, tea leaf, heritage rose, crushed white pepper, licorice, nutmeg, clove and chopped mint. It opens slowly to reveal more richness and exuberance with time, becoming downright voluptuous and heady a short while later. The through line, however, remains the bright freshness and minerality of Sangiovese. Compared to the 2018 vintage (which I also loved), this vintage has more overall fruit weight and volume.
 
98 ~Vinous
The 2021 Tignanello is every bit as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel and then just after bottling. Silky and polished, with exceptional finesse, the 2021 has all the pedigree to become a modern benchmark for Tignanello and Italian wine more broadly. Bright dark red fruit, blood orange, spice, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco all soar out of the glass, framed by a discreet touch of French oak that adds raciness. In some vintages, the elements are discernible. In 2021, it is the total harmony of the wine that makes the strongest and deepest impression. The 2021 spent 17 months in wood, three months in neutral oak during the malolactic fermentation and then 14 months (50% new) for the rest of its aging.
Blend: 79% Sangiovese, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon, 8% Cabernet Franc
 
The label was designed by Silvio Coppola in 1974 for the release of Tignanello 1971. The idea to commission this artist was discussed at an event at Castello della Sala in 1973. Silvio Coppola was an important Italian graphic and interior designer who was famous for his minimalist lighting fixtures and austere furniture but also for book cover designs for Italian publishing company Feltrinelli. Silvio Coppola was the perfect match for the job.
Tignanello
Tignanello is the most famous of all Antinori's wines. The vineyard of the same name extends to 57 hectares (140 acres) on limestone-rich soils on a southwest-facing slope 350-400m (1150-1300ft) above sea level.
This wine was the first in the region to combine the regional staple Sangiovese with non-traditional international varieties, and to omit white grapes – hence being classified as a Vino da Tavola. It is now a Toscana IGT.
A typical composition for recent vintages would be 80 percent Sangiovese with 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 percent Cabernet Franc. Tignanello is aged for 12-14 months in a mix of new and one year-old French and Hungarian oak.
Antinori is a Tuscan-based wine company that is one of the largest and most prominent in Italy. The Chianti Classico region forms the focus of operations, though the company has an estate in Umbria and international interests including Antica Napa Valley and a controlling stake in Vitis Metamorfosis in Romania. Around 20 million bottles are produced annually across 150 labels.
The history of the house dates back to the 14th Century, after the silk-weaving family moved to Florence and began to cultivate vines. In 1900, Antinori added the Tignanello vineyard to its portfolio, and Niccolò Antinori and his son Piero began to experiement with then unheard-of winemaking techniques and grape varieties. The first vintage of Tignanello was released in 1971.