2019 Marchesi Antinori Tenuta Guado Al Tasso Bolgheri Cont'Ugo

Marchesi Antinori is synonymous with the best of Italian winemaking. The Antinori family has been in the wine producing business for 26 generations and it now one of the most successful and admired producers in Italy. Based in Tuscany and Umbria, the family has in recent decades bought estates in other parts of Italy as well as the United States. The business is led by Marchese Piero Antinori, who is respected for his passionate attention to tradition and terroir as well as his interest in innovation and new ideas. Antinori originally made its reputation by producing Chianti Classico, though these days it is equally known for its Super Tuscans -- Guado Al Tasso Bolgheri, Solaia and Tignanello. Super Tuscans are blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Merlot or Syrah, and were among the first blended wines in Italy. Marchesi Antinori owns about 4,000 acres of vineyards and produces between 40,000 and 50,000 cases of its three Super Tuscans annually.

Bolgheri is a tiny village just inland from the western Tuscan coast with a storybook renaissance castle but no train station. To wine enthusiasts, however, Bolgheri DOC is perhaps Italy’s most exciting wine appellation. It is the cultural heart of the Maremma, the coastal stretch of Tuscany where some of the first Super Tuscans were produced commercially in the late 1960s. Various members of the legendary Antinori wine dynasty and other influential producers established estates in Bolgheri starting in the 1970s, creating such Super Tuscans as Guado Al Tasso and Ornellaia. Bolgheri was awarded DOC status in 1983. Red, white and dessert wines are made in this appellations, and many of the most renowned are the Super Tuscans made from blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese and other red varietals. The white wines are blends of Vermentino and Trebbiano. The reds are notable for being blends that have a distinctive Tuscan terroir.