TIGNANELLO 2020

During fermentation in truncated cone-shaped tanks, each must is macerated with the skins, paying particular attention to the preservation of aromas, the extraction of colour and the formation of soft, elegant tannins. Racking is carried out after rigorous daily sampling and tasting. Once separated from the skins, the wine is transferred to small oak barrels where malolactic fermentation takes place to accentuate aromatic finesse and complexity. The ageing takes place in French and Hungarian oak barrels, partly new and partly second passage, for a total of 15 months: after an initial period of ageing the batches separately, they are blended and then the ageing in barrels is completed. The Tignanello, made mainly from Sangiovese and a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, undergoes an additional 12 months of bottle ageing before release.

The Tignanello is made exclusively from the vineyard of the same name, a parcel of about 57 hectares (140 acres) with limestone-rich soils and a southwest exposure at 350-400 metres (1150-1325 feet) above sea level on the Tignanello estate. It was the first Sangiovese wine aged in small oak barrels, the first modern red to use non-traditional varieties such as Cabernet in the blend and one of the first reds in the Chianti Classico area to be produced without white grapes. The wine, originally called "Chianti Classico Riserva Vigneto Tignanello" (a Chianti Classico Riserva from the Tignanello vineyard), was first made from a single vineyard plot in 1970, when the blend contained 20% Canaiolo and 5% Trebbiano and Malvasia, both white grapes, and the wine was aged in small oak barrels. In 1971 it became a Tuscan red table wine instead of a Chianti Classico, and was renamed Tignanello. In the 1975 vintage, the percentage of white grapes was definitively eliminated from the blend. Since 1982, this blend has been the one used today. Tignanello is only bottled in favourable vintages, and was not produced in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1984, 1992 and 2002.

TASTING NOTES

COLOUR: Intense ruby red.

NOSE: It has an exceptional aromatic complexity: notes of ripe red fruits, especially cherries, strawberries and blackberries, accompanied by delicate floral hints of violets, mauve flowers and roses. Its bouquet is completed with notes of roasted coffee and cocoa powder.

MOUTH: The vibrant entry gives way to a caressing sensation on the palate. The wine closes with spicy notes of pepper and liquorice that blend with pleasant sensations of aromatic herbs.

FINISH: Fresh and lingering.