Marchesi Antinori

Marchesi Antinori dates its winemaking to 1385, when Giovanni di Piero Antinori became a member of the Arte Fiorentina dei Vinattieri, the Florentine Winemakers' Guild. Across twenty-six generations the family has managed the business directly. On February 2, 1506, Niccolò di Tommaso Antinori bought Palazzo Antinori in Florence, then known as Palazzo Boni, for 4,000 florins; the palazzo was designed and built between 1461 and 1469 by the architect Giuliano da Maiano. For more than 500 years it has been the family's private residence and a headquarters for its businesses, and since 1957 it has been home to the Cantinetta Antinori, the family's restaurant and wine bar. The company's registered office is at Piazza Antinori 3 in Florence, and its headquarters are at Bargino in San Casciano Val di Pesa. Marchese Niccolò Antinori first produced Villa Antinori in the 1928 vintage, as a Chianti Classico meant to age and improve over time.

• 1385: Giovanni di Piero Antinori joins the Florentine Winemakers' Guild
• 1506: Niccolò di Tommaso Antinori buys Palazzo Antinori in Florence for 4,000 florins
• 1928: Marchese Niccolò Antinori produces the first vintage of Villa Antinori
• 1957: Palazzo Antinori becomes home to the Cantinetta Antinori

As of May 2023, Marchesi Antinori was headed by honorary president Piero Antinori and his three daughters: Albiera Antinori, the president, and her sisters Allegra and Alessia. Albiera began working in the company in 1986, starting with the harvest at Castello della Sala. Renzo Cotarella, the company's longtime chief executive and chief winemaker as of May 2023, joined Castello della Sala in the summer of 1979 as a 25-year-old agronomist, and as chief enologist there he made the first vintage of Cervaro della Sala in 1985.

• Piero Antinori: honorary president (as of May 2023)
• Albiera Antinori: president (as of May 2023)
• Allegra and Alessia Antinori: with their father and sister at the head of the company (as of May 2023)
• Renzo Cotarella: chief executive and chief winemaker (as of May 2023)

Tenuta Tignanello lies in the heart of Chianti Classico, on the rolling hillsides between the Greve and Pesa river valleys. It extends over 319 hectares (788 acres), of which about 165 hectares (408 acres) are planted to vines divided into smaller parcels, along with 37 hectares (91 acres) of olive groves. The current 16th-century manor house was built on the foundations of an estate dating back to 1346, and the Antinori family acquired the estate in the mid 1800s. The vineyards sit at 350 to 400 meters (1,148 to 1,312 feet) on Pliocene soils rich in calcareous rock and marl, planted to Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, with small parcels of Malvasia and Trebbiano for Vinsanto. Throughout the 1970s the estate served as a center for viticultural research, where the family introduced new winemaking techniques and varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Tignanello and Solaia each have their own vinification and aging cellars, and the vinification cellar was renovated between 2008 and 2009. Badia a Passignano lies 3 kilometers south of Tenuta Tignanello, with 65 of its 223 hectares under vine, planted principally with Sangiovese at 250 to 300 meters. The Pèppoli estate, 5 kilometers northeast of Tenuta Tignanello, has 50 hectares of vineyards on 100 hectares.

• Tenuta Tignanello: 319 hectares, about 165 under vine, at 350 to 400 meters between the Greve and Pesa valleys
• Tignanello vineyard: 77 hectares (190 acres) with limestone-rich soils and a southwestern exposure
• Solaia vineyard: 20 hectares (50 acres) on the sunniest part of the Tignanello hillside, on alberese (hard limestone) and galestro (flaky calcareous clay)
• Badia a Passignano: 223 hectares, 65 under vine; its Gran Selezione is made only from Sangiovese from the monastery's historic vineyards
• Pèppoli: 100 hectares, 50 under vine, 5 kilometers northeast of Tenuta Tignanello

Castello della Sala, a medieval manor in Umbria about 18 kilometers from Orvieto, has 600 hectares (1,482 acres) of land, 229 hectares (566 acres) of them planted with vineyards at 220 to 470 meters on clay and calcareous soils rich in fossil shells. The castle was built in 1350 by Angelo Monaldeschi della Vipera. Its vineyards are planted to Procanico and Grechetto as well as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, Pinot Blanc, Viognier and small amounts of Traminer and Riesling; the area is suited above all to white varieties, with Pinot Noir the one exception. In Bolgheri, Tenuta Guado al Tasso covers about 320 hectares (790 acres) planted with vines; in the 1930s the property was inherited by Carlotta Della Gherardesca Antinori, Piero Antinori's mother, and her sister. Pian delle Vigne, 6 kilometers southwest of Montalcino, was acquired in 1995, the same year as its first Brunello harvest, and has 83 of its 184 hectares under vine. The family's other Italian estates include Prunotto in Barolo and Barbaresco, Tormaresca in Castel del Monte and Salento, Tenuta Bocca di Lupo in Castel del Monte, Marchese Antinori Tenuta Montenisa in Franciacorta, La Braccesca in Cortona and Montepulciano, Le Mortelle at Castiglione della Pescaia, Fattoria Aldobrandesca at Sovana and Tenuta Monteloro at Fiesole. Outside Italy, the family lists Antinori Napa Valley and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley, Col Solare in Washington State and Haras de Pirque in Chile.

• Castello della Sala (Umbria): 600 hectares, 229 under vine, at 220 to 470 meters
• Tenuta Guado al Tasso (Bolgheri): about 320 hectares planted with vines
• Pian delle Vigne (Montalcino): acquired 1995; 184 hectares, 83 under vine
• Other Italian estates: Prunotto, Tormaresca, Tenuta Bocca di Lupo, Tenuta Montenisa, La Braccesca, Le Mortelle, Fattoria Aldobrandesca, Tenuta Monteloro
• Outside Italy: Antinori Napa Valley, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Col Solare, Haras de Pirque

The Antinori family had been a managing partner in Stag's Leap Wine Cellars since 2007, and in 2023 it acquired the entire estate, buying the 85 percent stake held by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. The sale included the winery, the brand, inventory and close to 300 acres of Napa vines, including the Fay and S.L.V. vineyards. The estate's 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon beat Château Mouton-Rothschild and Château Haut-Brion, among others, at the 1976 Judgement of Paris blind tasting. Col Solare, on Red Mountain in Washington State, was established by Marchesi Antinori and Chateau Ste. Michelle and made its first vintage in 1995. It has about 11 hectares (27 acres) of vineyards planted predominantly to Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Antinori family acquired full ownership in 2024.

• Stag's Leap Wine Cellars: partner since 2007; entire estate acquired in 2023 with the purchase of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates' 85 percent stake
• Col Solare: first vintage 1995; about 11 hectares, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, in the Red Mountain AVA; full Antinori ownership since 2024

Tignanello is produced exclusively from the vineyard of the same name. First made from that single parcel in 1970 as 'Chianti Classico Riserva Vigneto Tignanello', with 20% Canaiolo and 5% of the white grapes Trebbiano and Malvasia, it became a Tuscan red table wine called Tignanello in 1971. White grapes were eliminated from the blend in the 1975 vintage, and the blend in use today, mainly Sangiovese with a small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, has been used since 1982. It was the first Sangiovese aged in small oak barrels, the first modern red to use Cabernet in the blend, and among the first reds from the Chianti Classico area made without white grapes. It is bottled only in favorable vintages and was not produced in 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1984, 1992 and 2002. Its label was designed by Silvio Coppola in 1974 for the release of the 1971, and Piero Antinori had his father, Niccolò Antinori, sign it. Solaia was first produced in 1978 as 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc, a formula repeated in 1979; in the following years 20% Sangiovese was introduced. It is made only in exceptional vintages and was not produced in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1992. Both wines are labeled Toscana IGT. Cervaro della Sala blends Chardonnay with a small quantity of Grechetto, and its name honors the Monaldeschi della Cervara family, historic owners of Castello della Sala. The Villa Antinori name dates to the 1928 vintage, and the inauguration of the Antinori nel Chianti Classico winery inspired the family to reinterpret it as the Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva. Pèppoli Chianti Classico was first produced in 1985.

• Tignanello (Toscana IGT): Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from the Tignanello vineyard
• Solaia (Toscana IGT): Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese from the Solaia vineyard
• Cervaro della Sala (Umbria IGT): Chardonnay with a small quantity of Grechetto; first vintage 1985
• Chianti Classico: Badia a Passignano (DOCG Gran Selezione), Pèppoli (DOCG), Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva
• Guado al Tasso (Bolgheri DOC Superiore) and Pian delle Vigne (Brunello di Montalcino DOCG)

The Antinori nel Chianti Classico winery at Bargino, in San Casciano Val di Pesa, was inaugurated in October 2012 and built entirely with locally sourced materials. Designed by the architect Marco Casamonti, it was built for gravity-flow vinification and is set into the hillside, its façade appearing as two horizontal cuts in the Tuscan landscape. The rooftop restaurant, Rinuccio 1180, is named for Rinuccio degli Antinori, forefather of the family. The Antinori Art Project, a platform for contemporary art, was founded in 2012 together with the winery, while the Accademia Antinori collects and preserves artwork connected to Tuscan traditions. In 2022 Antinori was named The World's Best Vineyard.

• Inaugurated October 2012 at Bargino, San Casciano Val di Pesa
• Architect: Marco Casamonti; designed for gravity-flow vinification
• Rooftop restaurant Rinuccio 1180, named for family forefather Rinuccio degli Antinori
• Named The World's Best Vineyard in 2022

Antinori frames its approach as tradition joined to innovation. In Piero Antinori's words, quoted on the family's site: 'Ancient family roots play an important part in our philosophy but they have never hindered our innovative spirit.' At Tenuta Tignanello, the estate says its work on vine density, pruning and the selection of Sangiovese was always intended 'to obtain grapes with concentrated fruit and soft tannins.' Wine Spectator's tasting note on the 2021 Tignanello found 'pure cherry, strawberry, graphite and tobacco aromas and flavors' supported by 'a backbone of vibrant acidity and taut, refined tannins.'

The 1997 Solaia was Wine Spectator's 2000 Wine of the Year, the first Italian wine to earn that honor. The 2021 Tignanello, which marks the wine's 50th anniversary, was Wine Spectator's No. 3 wine of 2024, rated 97 points.

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.antinori.it/en/, https://www.antinori.it/en/family/family-in-depth/, https://www.antinori.it/en/family/palazzo-antinori/, https://www.antinori.it/en/estates/, https://www.antinori.it/en/wines/all-wines/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-antinori/antinori-nel-chianti-classico-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-antinori/tignanello-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-antinori/castello-della-sala-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-antinori/guado-al-tasso-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-antinori/badia-a-passignano-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-antinori/pian-delle-vigne-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-world/stags-leap-wine-cellars-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/tenuta/estates-world/col-solare-estate/, https://www.antinori.it/en/vino/tignanello-en/, https://www.antinori.it/en/vino/solaia-en/, https://www.antinori.it/en/vino/cervaro-della-sala-en/, https://www.antinori.it/en/vino/villa-antinori-chianti-classico-riserva-en/, https://www.antinori.it/en/vino/peppoli-en/. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator (April 30, 2015 issue; May 9, 2023; Top 100 of 2024), https://top100.winespectator.com/2022/article/the-family-trust-2/, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/antinori-buys-sole-ownership-of-napas-stags-leap-wine-cellars, https://top100.winespectator.com/2024/wine/wine-no-3-2/; Decanter (16 May 2023; 7 March 2024; 14 October 2025), https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/antinori-purchases-iconic-napa-valley-producer-stags-leap-503578/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/poggio-antico-reveals-plans-for-new-winery-designed-by-architect-marco-casamonti-524282/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-travel/top-10-tuscan-wineries-to-visit-13770/. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Last verified 2026-10-19