Villa Antinori: i migliori vini italiani, vigneti e storia della cantina

Storia

Family roots at Villa del Cigliano

Villa Antinori takes its name and visual identity from Villa del Cigliano, among the rolling hills of San Casciano in Val di Pesa in the province of Florence. Alessandro di Niccolò Antinori became the owner of the property in 1546. Successive generations of the Antinori family were born and lived there, and the villa came to embody the family's history, identity and continuity. It is also presented as the place where, in a broad symbolic sense, the family began its path in viticulture and winemaking.

1928: creation of Villa Antinori

Marchese Niccolò Antinori, father of Piero Antinori, created Villa Antinori in 1928. He chose the family villa's name because Antinori was then still little known outside a limited circle and he wanted to establish it more widely. The wine was conceived as his interpretation of Chianti Classico and Tuscan identity and became the family's signature label.

The original Villa Antinori was a Chianti Classico intended to age and improve with time. It soon entered the cellars of embassies and royal households, as well as important hotels and restaurants.

The label depicted Villa del Cigliano. This illustration represented home, territory and Tuscany and broke with more conventional packaging of the period. Niccolò Antinori explained the choice playfully by contrasting the French château with the Italian villa. The connection between the label and Villa del Cigliano has endured because the building expresses the same ideas of family identity and continuity associated with the wine.

1931: Villa Antinori Bianco

Niccolò Antinori introduced Villa Antinori Bianco with the 1931 vintage, initially using traditional Trebbiano grapes. Its label has since remained almost unchanged, together with a production philosophy centred on expressing the place where the grapes are grown.

The 1980s

A small proportion of Chardonnay was introduced into Villa Antinori Bianco during the 1980s to provide additional structure.

Later development of the range

The opening of the Antinori nel Chianti Classico winery prompted the family to reinterpret the historic Tuscan label as Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva. The Riserva combines Sangiovese with complementary varieties and was conceived to be delicate yet decisive and elegant.

Villa Antinori Pinot Bianco subsequently gave another historic Antinori wine a new expression, using selected Pinot Bianco vineyards at Tenuta Monteloro in the hills behind Fiesole.

2023 Ryder Cup

Villa Antinori was selected as the Official Wine Supplier of the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. Piero Antinori, Honorary President of Marchesi Antinori and himself a golfer, described the partnership as a meeting of two institutions created only one year apart and linked by almost a century of history.

1546Alessandro di Niccolò Antinori became the owner of Villa del Cigliano in San Casciano in Val di Pesa. The property subsequently became a home for generations of the Antinori family and a symbol of family continuity.

1928Marchese Niccolò Antinori created the first Villa Antinori as a Chianti Classico designed to age and improve over time.

1928Niccolò Antinori adopted the name of the family villa to establish the then little-known Antinori name and to convey his interpretation of Chianti Classico and Tuscan identity.

After 1928Villa Antinori entered the cellars of embassies, royal households, important hotels and restaurants.

1931Niccolò Antinori produced the first Villa Antinori Bianco from traditional Trebbiano grapes.

1980sA small proportion of Chardonnay was added to Villa Antinori Bianco to give the wine greater structure.

Date not statedThe inauguration of Antinori nel Chianti Classico inspired the creation of Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva as a reinterpretation of the historic Tuscan label.

2023Villa Antinori became the Official Wine Supplier of the Ryder Cup held in Rome.

Continua a leggere ↓Mostra meno ↑

Terroir

Villa Antinori is rooted in Toscana and draws on more than one Antinori property rather than being presented as a single, contiguous vineyard estate. The red wine's grapes are grown and harvested across the family's Tuscan estates before vinification and ageing within Antinori estates.

Villa del Cigliano stands among the gently rolling hills of San Casciano in Val di Pesa, in the province of Florence. Its significance to Villa Antinori is principally historical and symbolic: it is the family home portrayed on the label and the place associated with the family's early steps in viticulture and winemaking.

Villa Antinori Pinot Bianco comes from selected Pinot Bianco vineyards at Tenuta Monteloro, on the hills behind Fiesole. This area is characterized as an ancient territory associated with white-wine production. Villa Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva connects the range directly with the Chianti Classico territory.

Vinificazione

Tuscan estate sourcingGrapes are grown, ripened and harvested across Antinori's estates in Toscana.

Family-estate productionThe harvested grapes are vinified and aged within Antinori family estates.

Parcel separationSelected Monteloro Pinot Bianco parcels are harvested and fermented separately to preserve each vineyard block's identity.

Experimentation and continuityProduction combines research and evolution with the historical values attached to the Villa Antinori name.

Production is conceived around Tuscan estate sourcing: grapes are grown, ripened and harvested in Antinori vineyards in Toscana, then vinified and aged within the family's estates.

The governing idea combines experimentation and evolution with continuity of historical values. Research and development are treated as instruments for presenting home, territory and Toscana through a contemporary style, while the continuing objective is to pursue progressively higher levels of quality.

Within the Pinot Bianco programme, individual vineyard parcels are harvested and fermented separately to preserve the identity of each block. The broader range encompasses both Toscana IGT production and a Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva interpretation of the historic label.

Filosofia

Villa Antinori presents home, territory and Toscana through a contemporary style. Its stated philosophy places experimentation and evolution on one side and historical continuity on the other, treating neither as sufficient alone.

Continuous research for higher quality is the range's fixed principle. Development is therefore framed as an ongoing process rather than a departure from tradition. The historic identity embodied by Villa del Cigliano, the family name and the original label remains the reference point for that evolution.

The production philosophy of Villa Antinori Bianco is oriented toward expressing the origin of its grapes. Its label and this underlying approach have remained substantially unchanged since the first 1931 vintage. Across the range, family identity, Tuscan provenance and continuity are treated as central values.