Producer
Solaia
SUMMARY
The Tenuta Tignanello estate was founded in the late 1960s by the Antinori family of Italian wine producers who had moved to Tuscany from Lombardy. Solaia is a red wine produced with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese grapes, all taken from its namesake vineyard and aged for at least 18 months before release. It was awarded DOCG status in 1994 and has won many awards since then. The Tenuta Tignanello estate was founded in 1969 by the Antinori family. The name “Tignanello” means young shoot, a symbol of life and rebirth in Italy’s Etruscan culture.
It is also an homage to 16th-century Italian painter Raffaellino del Colle who painted under this pseudonym when he worked for the Antinori family at their ancestral home in Lombardy, Villa di Castiglione Olona.
In 1974 they produced what would become one of Italy’s most famous wines: Solaria from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown on land that had been used as a vineyard since Roman times. In 1994, the estate was named a DOCG (Controlled and Guaranteed Denomination of Origin), making it officially one of Italy’s top wines.
The original vineyards were planted with Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino grapes between 1969-70 under the guidance of enologist Giacomo Tachis who had worked for Cinzano and Martini before joining Antinori.
The name Solaia comes from the nearby village of Solaia which is situated on top of a hill overlooking Castellina.
The vineyard itself is based on marine marlstone which is rich in limestone and schist, giving the vines excellent drainage and the wines a hint of minerality.
The average age of the vines is 25 years with the oldest vines being 50 years old. In total there are around 3500 plants per hectare, which is very low compared to other top estates in Tuscany and therefore helps increase the concentration of fruit flavours without requiring too much water from the soil.
Piero Antinori was born in 1933 and studied law at university, although he never practised as an attorney instead chose to work with his father who owned a winery outside Lucca.
His family’s wine business had been producing wines since 1885 when Piero’s grandfather established their first vineyard – so it seemed only natural for him to take over from where they left off after World War II ended. In 1968 he created Tignanello together with his brothers Elio and Attilio (the latter died soon after).
He released the very first vintage under this label in 1969 and quickly received recognition for ‘his’ wine.
He is also credited for producing Sassicaia (a Bordeaux style blend) which he released in 1979 with his brother Elio and Roberto Voerzio who had worked at the estate since 1968.
The Antinori family continue to run their winery today spanning six generations, although Piero sadly passed away in 1990 due to cancer.
Today Tignanello remains one of Italy’s most highly regarded wines alongside Solaia – a Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine that they first produced back in 1978 before bringing it out as its own label two years later.
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