Tignanello

The grapes, especially the sangiovese varietal, benefitted greatly from a year which was particularly advantageous from the point of view of the ripening process. The excellent meteorological conditions permitted the grapes to be harvested in a particularly healthy and ripe state, thus allowing the grape bunches originating from the Tignanello vineyard to be selected according to their exposure to the sun and the plants' vigor. All of this resulted in a harvesting of clusters which were at the peak of their potential, thus arriving in the wine cellar in perfect condition. As usual, the procedures of fermentation and extraction were attended to with particular care, carrying out the subsequent operations of dèlestage and pumping over in such a way as to keep in tact the varietal aromas and the intensity of the color of the grapes. The fermentation of all the varietals was conducted at an average temperature of 27°C, without ever exceeding 31°C in order to preserve as much as possible the aromas and the typicity of the fruit. Right from the beginning the musts showed great complexity. Especially in the case of sangiovese, the outstanding characteristic varietal aromas and elegance along with beautiful color, all made it possible to foresee a truly great vintage. After the first racking, which took place when alcoholic fermentation had finished, the wines were put into barriques (oak barrels) where malolactic fermentation took place by the end of the first year. The wines were then blended, and subsequently left to age for about 12 months in barriques, where they were periodically racked and tasted, barrel by barrel, until the moment of bottling. After an additional year of bottle-aging, the wine was introduced on the market.

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 feets (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 red 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 percentage of white grapes was definitively 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.

Tignanello 2007 is a wine which presents itself with a great impact. To the nose this wine opens with a pleasant concentration of aromas ranging from ripe red fruit to spiciness; with hints of vanilla and toasty notes which compose a bouquet with great persistence and elegance. It is a wine of unquestionable personality, with typical characteristics which deeply bond the wine with the land where it was born, exalting and rewarding this maximum expression of the wonderfully ripened sangiovese, so particularly optimal in this harvest.