Antinoro was the first member in the lineage and Piero is a contemporary member of the family. There is a span of more than eight centuries between them. Eight hundred years of pride in belonging to this family. We met him here, in this palace, situated in the square with their name, also situated at the beginning of Via Tornabuoni, the ‘Bond Street’ of the most elegant High Society of Florence. It is a building where the intimate Renaissance courtyard is an enchanting model of beauty and the rooms on the ‘piano nobile’, where the Marchese lives, seem to reflect the atmosphere of Florence during the rule of Lorenzo il Magnifico.
We leave together for his large wine producing estate towards a friendly part of the Chianti, a countryside in the municipality of San Casciano which is united to the Val di Pesa where it ends. It is a part of the Florentine Chianti where the vineyards and olive groves of the Antinori expand on gentle slopes which begin to rise sharply as soon as we approach Badia a Passignano. The monastery is one of the great spiritual centers of the territory and is still controlled by Vallombrosan monks in whose cellars 2000 French oak barriques are visible. Here they produce one of the most recent Antinori wines, the Chianti Classico Badia a Passignano. “This is our latest jewel” the Marchese tells us proudly “50 hectares of vineyards, almost entirely cultivated with Sangiovese and a wine, left to mature in these splendid vaulted cellars, ideal for aging, as they maintain a steady temperature all the year round.” We return by car to pay a brief visit to the other farms which have given their name to as many Chianti wines. We stop at a small group of buildings surrounded by a gently sloping vineyard and by the fertile land of Galestro. This is Peppoli, a farm the Antinori purchased in 1985, to celebrate 600 years of wine production. Peppoli is also an appreciated Chianti Classico. This wine consists of 90% Sangiovese, the protagonist, and 10% Merlot which sweetens the character. This type of wine is still undergoing changes and, with time, it will certainly achieve better results. Our curiosity as wine lovers, encourages us to visit the vineyards of one of the greatest wines in the world, one of those wines which confirms the image of a great producer, extending its lifetime. Obviously we are referring to Tignanello. When it was presented at the end of the sixties, some thought it was an oddity for the Chianti but its example was followed by many others. It was the first wine in the Chianti which did not contain white grapes and the first which was left to mature in small oak barrels. It was one of the first wines to contain not only the autochthonous Sangiovese but also the allogenous Cabernet Sauvignon. On the estate of Tignanello, 47 hectares of vineyards are dedicated to this historical wine which is produced only in the best vintages because Tignanello must always live up to its reputation. Back to Florence, our journey to the Chianti of the Antinori is now at an end. Tomorrow we could set out on another excursion to the numerous farms that this family of wine growers own in various parts of Italy.

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See also:

The Castle Of Gabbiano in Chianti, The Antinori Family Wine Producers, Mazzei of Fonterutoli Chianti Makers, Volpaia: a Wine, a Hamlet, Colle Bereto in Florence, The Small Vineyard of Colle Bereto, The Great Montevertine: a Small Winegrower, Albola by Zonin, Castello Brolio of Ricasoli Firidolfi, Colombaio di Cencio Tech Wine, Ricasoli of Cacchiano, San Felice Chianti Hamlet

or go back to Chianti Wine Producing Estates