Recently, I posted a note about a corkless 1975 Meyney that was remarkably ok. This CCR was rescued from that same cellar. It was better than just alive. It was terrific - even if it tasted more like Left Bank Bordeaux than Chianti.
1981 Antinori Chianti Classico Riserva Villa Antinori- Italy, Tuscany, Chianti, Chianti Classico DOCG (8/30/2020)
As the night went on, this kept getting better and better. It tasted and smelled more of good old Bordeaux than Chianti or Sangiovese per se. but given the abysmal cellar this was rescued from, it was enjoyable, interesting and very engaging.
I never thought a regular ol’ Chianti Classico Riserva would last this long, let alone thrive. Makes me rethink when I’ve been drinking mine! Very cool TN.
I have very little experience with aged Chianti, either, but an ITB friend I respect thinks that good ones age nicely, and I have a few stashed away to check out this view.
I think cabernet was only allowed as of 1984, but I believe some people were using it before then. Antinori, of course, had invented Tignanello earlier, which included cabernet. So perhaps your impression was not just your imagination.
I’ll e-mail Greg dal Piaz and see if I can coax him to weigh in.
I have had some aged Tuscan Sangiovese - Monsanto Il Poggio, Selvapiana Rufina Buccherciale mostly - and recently from the same awful cellar, a 75 Vino Nobile. Some have been really good and justify the investment of cellaring. The producer we work with in Montepulciano has quite a trove of back vintages but I haven’t yet unlocked it.
As for the Antinori Cabernet proposition, it crossed my mind as well. Of course, it’s possible it was used sub rosa.
There was a lot of chafing at the rules before 1984 – people who didn’t want to include white grapes, and people who thought sangiovese needed some cabernet or merlot. This being Italy, it would not be surprising if there were some cabernet in there.
Just had the 1996 vintage of this.
It’s been a long time since I tried a CC.
Really nice nose of earth, subdued barnyard and cherries.
Palate was somewhat closed. Maybe this would open up in a few years.
An enjoyable bottle but not quite enough to try again.
It’s an interesting question. I do not know the answer, though there was of course Cabernet planted in the region by then, but really much of it was not very good and in a cool vintage like 1981 it would have been tough to find good quality Cabernet, like that used in Solaia for example, which was not produced in 1981.