Tignanello is the red that changed Chianti Classico: a Sangiovese with Cabernet, aged in barrique and made by Marchesi Antinori from a single vineyard south of Florence. This page gathers Tignanello itself, vintage by vintage. For the rest of the family's wines, see our Antinori page.
Tignanello: the Antinori Super Tuscan from Chianti Classico
The Antinori family has made wine in Tuscany since 1385, and in the early 1970s Piero Antinori set out to rethink what a Chianti could be. Working with his oenologist Giacomo Tachis, with advice from the Bordeaux professor Émile Peynaud, he took fruit from the Tignanello vineyard and broke with the recipe of the day. The 1970 vintage was still labelled Chianti Classico Riserva Vigneto Tignanello and contained Canaiolo plus a share of white Trebbiano and Malvasia. With the 1971 vintage the wine stepped outside the appellation, was sold as a simple table wine and took the name Tignanello.
From 1975 the white grapes were gone, and since 1982 the blend has been the one we know today. Tignanello was the first Sangiovese aged in small oak barriques and one of the first Tuscan reds to add Cabernet. It became the model for the Super Tuscans, sold first as vino da tavola and since the early 1990s as IGT Toscana.
The Tignanello vineyard, its grapes and its style
The wine comes only from the Tignanello vineyard, about 77 hectares on the Tenuta Tignanello estate between the Greve and Pesa valleys in the heart of Chianti Classico. The vines face south-west at between 350 and 400 metres, on stony, calcareous soils of alberese limestone and marl. Solaia grows on the same hillside.
The blend is mainly Sangiovese, with a smaller share of Cabernet Sauvignon and a little Cabernet Franc. Each lot is aged separately in mostly new French oak, with some Hungarian, then blended and given a year in bottle before release. In the glass, young Tignanello shows ripe cherry and plum, sweet spice from the oak and the firm, fresh acidity that marks Sangiovese. With age it moves towards dried cherry, tobacco, leather and earth.
Tignanello 2022 and 2023, in bottle and by the case
The current selection covers the two most recent releases: Tignanello 2022 and Tignanello 2023, both young and built for the cellar. The 2022 is also available as a six-bottle original wooden case, a good way to follow one vintage as it matures.
Antinori only bottles Tignanello in favourable years. The wine was not made in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1992 or 2002.
Tignanello, Antinori and Tuscany: which page is which
This page is for Tignanello alone. The same estate also makes a Chianti Classico Riserva labelled Tenuta Tignanello, a different wine that you will find with Solaia, Guado al Tasso, Pian delle Vigne and the rest of the range on the Antinori page. For the wider region, browse Tuscany, and for the other founding Super Tuscan, from the coast at Bolgheri, see Sassicaia.
Tignanello FAQ
What is Tignanello wine?
Tignanello is a red from Marchesi Antinori, made from a single vineyard in Chianti Classico. It is mostly Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, aged in barrique and sold as IGT Toscana. It is one of the original Super Tuscans.
Is Tignanello a Chianti Classico?
No. The vineyard lies inside the Chianti Classico zone, but since 1971 the wine has been sold outside that appellation, today as IGT Toscana. The Tenuta Tignanello Chianti Classico Riserva is a separate wine from the same estate.
What decides the price of a Tignanello?
Mainly vintage and age. Older bottles and highly regarded years are scarcer, and cases and large formats cost more in total. The grid above shows the current price of every listing.
When should I drink Tignanello?
Young vintages such as 2022 and 2023 can be opened now with an hour or two in a decanter, but most years are at their best after around ten years and keep well beyond that. Serve it at sixteen to eighteen degrees.
What food goes with Tignanello?
Bistecca alla fiorentina, roast lamb, wild boar ragù and aged Pecorino are classic Tuscan matches.