Villa Antinori
Toscana “Super Tuscan”
(Tuscany, Italy)
On Bottle/Website:
* 60% sangiovese, 20% cabernet sauvignon, 15% merlot, and 5% syrah
* ‘Villa Antinori’ have been made under the Chianti Classico DOCG till 2001
My Notes:
Appearance: clear, bright, garnet, rim variation, high concentration, medium viscosity
Nose: clean, medium minus intensity, pepper, dark berries, leather, tobacco
Palate: dry, medium bodied, young, licorice, smoky, leather, low acidity, low alcohol, low tannins
There is no law that regulates what grapes are used in a Super Tuscan. In my mind, this can give the winemaker a bit more freedom in mixing different varietals to make something spectacular. To my knowledge, the term “Super Tuscan” used to be used more infrequently to denote a high quality blended wine from the Tuscan region. Now, it seems, that any blend of wine from the region slaps the label on as a marketing tactic.
After shopping for a baby gift for my cousin, the younger girls wanted to eat at The Olive Garden. I am not a fan of chain restaurants in general, especially this one, but I can manage with the soup, salad and breadsticks. I purchased a glass of this wine and was not impressed. Maybe the ambiance skewed my perception, but I hardly thought this wine was worth the label “Super Tuscan” and I’m fairly certain the actual label does not even qualify it as such.
Savor 
Sorry to hear that it was disappointing. I have a bottle of this in my cupboard, but am not so enthusiastic about trying it. Oh, well. Can’t love them all.
You might enjoy it! Don’t let my opinion sway you. Try it with an open mind and let me know what you think… everyone’s palate is different.
There’s a photo of me on our “Conrad” menu page, the first photo, showing me having a bottle of this (with seafood of all things, it was one bottle to last entre and main). It was ok, but it wasn’t the best wine. The thing I remember about it most, and probably why I didn’t fully enjoy it, was that it was the first bottle of wine I ever had in a restaurant in Dubai and the mark-up was horrendous, probably about 5 to 10 times what it would cost to buy in a shop. We ended up drinking bottom rung wine at premium reserve prices the whole time we were there!
Maybe if I was somewhere exotic, such as Dubai, I would have enjoyed this wine more! Thanks for sharing your experience!
I used to enjoy their chianti classico, back in the ’90’s. But marketing decisions change things in every industry…
Maybe I will have to give a new vintage of their Chianti a try… I am open-minded!
I will be visiting Tuscany next week. I’ll be on the lookout on my travels to see if I could taste some of their wine. I’ll let you know what I find out.
Please do share! I hope you have wonderful travels!
I certainly will. Don’t know how much I will be blog posting, but I plan to post pictures on my Facebook page. Here it is in case you want to follow there. https://www.facebook.com/worldandwinegetaways
Well, so far I am having a great time! Would be much more fun if my wife were with me. But this is a business trip, so the next time I come she will be with me. The agriturismos are great as well. Currently at Dievole. Very nice. View, wine, food, all terriffic!