Antinori / Guado al Tasso

The Guado al Tasso estate is located near Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast, 96 kilometers (60 miles) to the southwest of Florence. The 300 hectares (750 acres) planted to vineyards on the property are in the center of the so-called” Bolgheri amphitheater”: rolling hillsides which surround a splendid plain which slopes gently towards the sea and create a micro-climate with unique characteristics. Guado al Tasso, the flagship wine of the estate, expresses all of the force and suppleness of this corner of the upper Maremma. It has contributed to raise Bolgheri to the level of the most important areas of Europe’s viticulture, expressing a decisively Mediterranean character of power, elegance, and balance.

Guado al Tasso is the prestigious flagship wine of the Tenuta Guado al Tasso, and it fully expresses the Bolgheri terroir in all its structure, elegance and complexity. It is a cabernet sauvignon-merlot blend introduced with the 1990 vintage and it is one of Antinori’s world class Super-Tuscan wines.  The successive vintages are 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997. All the vintages have been produced in limited quantities.

The Antinori family has been making wine for over six hundred years, since Giovanni di Piero Antinor became part of the Arte Fiorentina dei Vinattieri in 1385. Throughout its long history, spanning 26 generations, the family has always personally managed the business making innovative, sometimes courageous choices, always with unwavering respect for tradition and the land.

Marchese Piero Antinori, 25th generation president of the company, has brought in innovative, dynamic and visionary views that have led to Italy’s recognition as a producer of world-class wine. As the 26th generation of the Antinori family, Piero Antinori’s daughters Albiera, Allegra and Alessia are now involved in all aspects of Marchesi Antinori - and will play important roles in the prestigious producer’s future.

Piero Antinori is a firm believer in the cerebral Burgundian concept of terrior, instead of lieu-dit—the idea that the combination of different elements in one highly specific site—primarily soil, exposure, elevation, climate and grape variety, clone, and cultivation – make a wine what it is. Because of this, Antinori has purchased estates with unique viticultural attributes, concentrated primarily in central Italy, in Tuscany and Umbria. Beyond this, as a Tuscan he believes that the soul of a wine is equally important; that the soul is the reflection of man’s traditions, values, culture, foods, and passions. Antinori is therefore drawn to many regions to try to see exactly what a plot of land, a grape, and a man can best express.

If one could sum up Antinori’s philosophy in a sentence it would be, according to Marchese Piero Antinori, "Age-old roots play an important role in our philosophy, but they have not served to inhibit our innovative spirit."  In fact, Antinori continually experiments in its vineyards and at its wineries.

Bolgheri, the prestigious small appellation in whichGuado al Tasso is located, was famous for its rosé wines until the 1970’s; for this wine , and for white wines as well, itreceived appellation status in 1984, which was then extended to the red wines of the area in 1994. The zone in any case, is known and prized for its exceptional red wines, its so-called “Super Tuscans”: with this important richness and with the elevated quality of its wines, Bolgheri has become one of the new capitals of world oenology.

The overall surface area of the estate is over 1000 hectares (2500 acres), 300 of which (750 acres) are planted to vines; there are, in addition, woods, known as the Macchia del Bruciato, where Cinta Senese pigs, a prized Tuscan breed, and other animals are allowed to graze in the wild. The vineyards – 45-65 meters above sea level on soils of various composition – are planted to Vermentino, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot along with small quantities of other grape varieties.

Thanks to a mild climate created by the nearby

presence of the sea and the constant breezes which mitigate the extremes of summer heat and winter cold, sweep the sky clean of clouds and cover, and accordingly increase the amount and intensity of sunlight, the harvest here normally commences at the end of August, two weeks earlier than the more inland zones of Tuscany. An ideal climate as well for the small greenhouse where the different varieties of young vines to be planted are grown and then utilized in the other Antinori estates in Tuscany and Umbria.