The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.
News
Despite the fact that climatic conditions were favorable in 2016, we were vigilant both in the vineyards during harvesting operations as well as upon arrival of the grapes at the cellars for sorting and initial winemaking processes where our careful planning resulted in an added value that optimized this vintage’s characteristics. During fermentation in truncated conical tanks, the must was macerated with the skins giving particular attention to preserving the freshness of its aromas, the extraction of color, and encouraging desirable tannins that are supple and elegant. Racking was performed after rigorous daily sampling and tasting. Once separated from the skins, the wine was transferred into small oak barrels where malolactic fermentation took place, accentuating the finesse and complexity of the aromas. The wine was left to age for approximately 14 to 16 months in French and Hungarian oak barrels, in a combination of new and second fill barrels. Each lot and each grape variety was fermented and aged in barrels separately with the final blend taking place just a few months before bottling. Tignanello, a blend of Sangiovese with a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, underwent an additional 12 months in the bottle before being released.
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
Following a mild and not particularly rainy autumn and winter, spring 2016 in Chianti Classico started off well with warm weather favoring early bud break that occurred 10 days before average. Rain and cool temperatures started in May and continued throughout the first half of June but did not have an adverse effect on the critical phases of flowering and fruit set. Up until the end of August, summer temperatures were generally hot and dry without any big heat spikes: ideal conditions to maintain an excellent balance throughout the vegetative cycle and to guarantee perfect berry ripening. Climatic conditions during the harvesting months were normal for the season with several episodes of rain showers that alternated with long periods of sunshine and breezy weather, conditions that allowed for ideal ripening of the three grape varieties grown in Tignanello’s vineyards. Sangiovese was harvested starting on September 23rd, Cabernet Franc from the end of September to the first couple of days of October and Cabernet Sauvignon from October 3rd to the 10th.
