Antinori Tignanello Toscana 2012
Market value of Antinori Tignanello Toscana 2012(thereafter Tignanello 2012) . We have 3 points to make. First, Liv-ex was right on identifying the increasing score but decreasing market value Tignanello) http://www.blog.liv-ex.com/italy/). That does not point to anything, but we are certain that consumers are going to get a cheaper Tignanello these days. Second, Decanter and Wine Spectator, Swide(http://www.swide.com/sport-man/money/italian-red-wine-vintage-super-tuscans-offer-good-value-for-investment/2013/06/02), inter alia, say that this Tignanello and this 2012 vintage is a good investment. No ulterior motives implied, our personal experience starting with its vintage 1997 convinced me very well that the resistance to price drop pressure (http://donnacoulling.com/2014/12/08/top-5-investment-wines/) is pretty impressive.
Super Tuscans are star players in international wine market. Integration of modernity and tradition, aging potential, stylish image, many interesting episodes. Tignanello as the original Super Tuscan is produced exclusively from the Tignanello vineyard(originally a Chianti Classico Riserva labeled Vigneto Tignanello), a 47 hectares (116 acres) southwest-facing, calcareous rocky-marl and limestone soil plot with tufaceous elements(and hence the style), planted between 1,150 and 1,312 feet above-sea level at Antinori's Tignanello Estate. It was the first Sangiovese to be aged in small oak barrels(and this stopped adhering to the rules of the Chianti Classico Disciplinare and the grapes are totally eliminated) , the first red wine in modern times to use a non-traditional grape variety, Cabernet, in the blend, and among the first red wines made in Chianti with no white grapes. In all three instances, it set the example for a new breed of exceptional top-of-the-line Italian wine. And that’s the contribution of Tignanello to the stylistics.
We tasted 2012 Tignanello in VinItaly this year. Still developing, it demonstrates a bite of depth and complexity. However, tannins were soft and gentle for such a young wine, and allowed intriguing hints of tobacco, balsamic, summer herbs, licorice and cedar to shine through. Foursquare character-dark and red cherries and raspberries, dark plums followed by layers of caramel, spice, smoke, tobacco, anise, lavender & violets-seems not too exciting. Yet it is clean and very elegant. Of medium body, it is intense, precise, smooth & well structured. Palate is ripe and carries an underpinning acidity through its full length. Finished with medium dusty tannins manifesting it's youth.
This is exactly the maker’s classic Tig-tig style, as he always say that any ‘tig-tig’ that was too big and too concentrated is not his real style.
