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Wine Description
The Story
Tignanello is produced exclusively from the vineyard of the same name, a parcel of some 140 acres (57 hectares) with limestone-rich soils and a southwestern exposure at 1150-1325 feet (350-400 meters) above sea level at the Tignanello estate. It was the first Sangiovese wine to be aged in small oak barrels, the first modern rd wine to use such non-traditional varieties as Cabernet in the blend, and among the first red wines from 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 produced for the first time from a single vineyard parcel in 1970, when the blend contained 20% of Canaiolo and 5% of Trebbiano and Malvasia, both white grapes., and the wine aged in small oak barrels. In 1971 it became a Tuscan red table wine rather than a Chianti Classico, and was called Tignanello; in the 1975 vintage the white grapes were totally eliminated from the blend. Ever since 1982, the blend has been the one currently used. Tignanello is bottled only in favorable vintages, and was not produced in 1972, 1973,1974, 1976, 1984, 1992, and 2002.
Wine Information
A rainy autumn and a winter with fairly low average temperatures and some snow, resulted in later development of foliage (12-15 days) than last year. As if to compensate for this delay, favourable spring weather conditions enabled the vines to develop about 10 days earlier than average. The months of June, July and August were unusually cool with average temperatures of 24°C and plenty of rain in August. This created some problems for the ripening process and the subsequent harvest but the grapes harvested were healthy and completely ripe, up to the standard of recent vintage years and rich in potential.
VINIFICATION
The weather conditions during the harvest made very careful selection of the best grapes necessary, especially in the case of the Sangiovese. As in previous years, great care was taken during the fermentation and extraction phases, carrying out more frequent but less intense délestage and pumping over to obtain the best results for colour and tannins. For all three varieties, fermentation took placed at an average temperature of 27°, and an absolute maximum of 31°, to preserve as greatly as possible the aromas and typical features of the fruit. From the beginning the must showed great complexity and above all (in the case of the Sangiovese) very typical varietal aromas and elegance. After devatting, at the end of alcoholic fermentation, the wines were placed in new oak barriques where malolactic fermentation took place by the end of the year. They were then blended and aged for 12 months in barriques, racked and then tasted barrique by barrique before bottling. After another year ageing in the bottles the wine was released for sale. Alcohol : 13,5% Vol.
