Winemaker Notes
Badia a Passignano 2021 has a ruby red color. On the nose the intense notes of ripe cherry and orange peel alternate with fresh floral sensations of violet and dog rose; sweet hints of vanilla complete the bouquet. On the palate it is first enveloping, then refined, lively, juicy and supported by sweet and intense tannins. The aftertaste is very persistent, characterized by delicate notes of white chocolate.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wow. This shows a beautiful shift in character towards freshness and brightness, with lots of dried flowers and hints of sandalwood. Medium to full body with firm, fine tannins. Energetic finish. Lots of fresh herbs and pine to the fruit at the end. Pure sangiovese. Give this a couple of years, but already top-quality Chianti Classico. Best ever?
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Decanter
The Badia a Passignano vineyards, close to the Tenuta Tignanello estate, lie at an altitude of between 250 and 300 metres above sea level and are surrounded by 600-metre high hills to the east and southwest, which form a protective amphitheatre. This area is described by Antinori as a ‘geographical liaison between the UGA of San Casciano and the UGA of Panzano’. It has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and summers that remain fresh and well ventilated. This in turn encourages a longer, slower ripening season. The 2021 has some notes of green herb as well as bitter cherry, orange zest and sweet vanilla. There is a touch of forest greenness and a balsamic note, as well as spicy black pepper. On the palate the tannins are firm, upright and assertive but always refined. There is a beautiful soft, enveloping texture and weight, and the acidity gives mouthwatering freshness on the finish. It is a little oak-dominant at present, but is still young and needs time. A beautifully made wine that expresses a strong identity.
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Vinous
The 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Badia a Passignano is one of the best editions of this wine I have ever tasted. Ripe blue-toned fruit, spice, chocolate, leather and licorice fill out the layers in an ample, full-bodied Gran Selezione. Here, too, changes in vinification and aging yielded a wine that marries refinement with textural resonance. Superb.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I had previously reviewed this vintage closer to its commercial release. Tasted seven months later, the Marchesi Antinori 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Badia a Passignano has fleshed out nicely and has successfully shedded its oak signature. What you get now is a pretty mouthful of rich, ripe black fruits with background notes of green spice and smoked bacon. There is a hint of fragrant rose that emerges beautifully at one specific point a few minutes in. This expression from the San Donato in Poggio UGA delivers bright and lively fruit overall. With a storied winemaking tradition and first produced in 1988, you could say that this wine is the control sample against which the three new UGA expressions are measured.
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Wine Spectator
A deep well of cherry, pomegranate, iron, tobacco and wild herb aromas and flavors highlights this intense red, while a dense layer of tannins provides support. Lively acidity drives the lingering aftertaste of fruit, mineral and herb notes. Best from 2026 through 2043.
The Antinori family has been committed to the art of winemaking for over six centuries since 1385 when Giovanni di Piero Antinori became a member of the "Arte Fiorentina dei Vinattieri," the Florentine Winemaker’s Guild. All throughout its history, twenty-six generations long, the Antinori family has managed the business directly making innovative and sometimes bold decisions while upholding the utmost respect for traditions and the environment.
Today, Albiera Antinori is the president of Marchesi Antinori with the continuous close support of her two sisters, Allegra and Alessia, all actively involved in first person in the business. Their father, Marchese Piero Antinori, is the current Honorary President of the company. Tradition, passion, and intuition are the three driving forces that led Marchesi Antinori to establish itself as one of the most important winemakers of elite Italian wine. The company is one of the Founding Members of the "Associazione Marchi Storici d’Italia," an association for the protection, support and promotion of Italian historical brands.
The family’s historical heritage lies in their estates in Tuscany and Umbria, however over the years they have invested in many other areas, both in Italy and abroad, well known for producing high quality wine, opening new opportunities to appreciate and develop unique new terroirs with great winemaking potential. Each vintage, each plot of land, each new idea to be advanced is a new beginning, a new pursuit for achieving higher quality standards. As Marchese Piero loves to say "Ancient family roots play an important part in our philosophy but they have never hindered our innovative spirit."
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
One of the first wine regions anywhere to be officially recognized and delimited, Chianti Classico is today what was originally defined simply as Chianti. Already identified by the early 18th century as a superior zone, the official name of Chianti was proclaimed upon the area surrounding the townships of Castellina, Radda and Gaiole, just north of Siena, by Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany in an official decree in 1716.
However, by the 1930s the Italian government had appended this historic zone with additonal land in order to capitalize on the Chianti name. It wasn’t until 1996 that Chianti Classico became autonomous once again when the government granted a separate DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) to its borders. Ever since, Chianti Classico considers itself no longer a subzone of Chianti.
Many Classicos are today made of 100% Sangiovese but can include up to 20% of other approved varieties grown within the Classico borders. The best Classicos will have a bright acidity, supple tannins and be full-bodied with plenty of ripe fruit (plums, black cherry, blackberry). Also common among the best Classicos are expressive notes of cedar, dried herbs, fennel, balsamic or tobacco.