The wine that started it all in Italy, the first one from Tuscany to have come out to the world with a blend that also comprised non-native grapes, Tignanello is an absolutely pioneering effort and is the one that started the whole ‘Super Tuscan’ movement. It was the first Sangiovese wine to be aged in small oak barrels, the first modern red wine to use such non-traditional varieties as Cabernet (meaning non Italian/non Tuscany, a pretty big deal in the days of the yore), in the blend, and among the first red wines from the Chianti Classico area to be produced without white grapes. It is also pretty close to the Wine Monk team’s hearts as this was truly the first great wine (and by those standards expensive) the team tasted and fell in love.
The wine, originally called "Chianti Classico Riserva vigneto Tignanello" (a Chianti Classico Riserva from the Tignanello vineyard), was produced for the first time from a single vineyard parcel in 1970, when the blend contained 20% of Canaiolo and 5% of Trebbiano and Malvasia, both white grapes, and the wine aged in small oak barrels. In 1971 it became a Tuscan red table wine rather than a Chianti Classico, and was called Tignanello. In the 1975 vintage the white grapes were totally eliminated from the blend. Ever since 1982, the blend has been the one currently used. Tignanello is bottled only in favorable vintages, and was not produced in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1992, and 2002.
Tasting Notes & Reviews:
"This is the apotheosis of fine wine as well as being, for me, one of the best vintages ever of Tignanello. It is perfectly sound in appearance (though chromatically less dense), even if the colour does display slight orangey nuances. A nose with faint notes of yellow peppers reminds one that an addition of Bordeaux grapes has taken place and time is clearly revealing their presence… But gosh, what variegation and what finely chiselled perfumes. On the palate it seems to be made of precious linen, with still lively acidity and splendid, satisfying fruit. This is a timeless monster of a wine, which is right at the top of the Italian oenological tree." 94/100 Doctor Wine, May 2011
The wine, originally called "Chianti Classico Riserva vigneto Tignanello" (a Chianti Classico Riserva from the Tignanello vineyard), was produced for the first time from a single vineyard parcel in 1970, when the blend contained 20% of Canaiolo and 5% of Trebbiano and Malvasia, both white grapes, and the wine aged in small oak barrels. In 1971 it became a Tuscan red table wine rather than a Chianti Classico, and was called Tignanello. In the 1975 vintage the white grapes were totally eliminated from the blend. Ever since 1982, the blend has been the one currently used. Tignanello is bottled only in favorable vintages, and was not produced in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1992, and 2002.
Tasting Notes & Reviews:
"This is the apotheosis of fine wine as well as being, for me, one of the best vintages ever of Tignanello. It is perfectly sound in appearance (though chromatically less dense), even if the colour does display slight orangey nuances. A nose with faint notes of yellow peppers reminds one that an addition of Bordeaux grapes has taken place and time is clearly revealing their presence… But gosh, what variegation and what finely chiselled perfumes. On the palate it seems to be made of precious linen, with still lively acidity and splendid, satisfying fruit. This is a timeless monster of a wine, which is right at the top of the Italian oenological tree." 94/100 Doctor Wine, May 2011