Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, Badia a Passignano

The Antinori family have been producing wine in Tuscany for six centuries, and exporting it for four. The purchase of the Tignanello estate in 1900 marked the beginning of a remarkable period of expansion which shows no signs of abating. Through judicious acquisition of vineyards and an uncanny knack for developing iconic wines, Antinori has become Tuscany’s, arguably Italy’s, pre-eminent wine producer.

The 325-hectare Badia a Passignano estate surrounds a fortified abbey near Sambuca Fal di Pesa, three kilometres south of Tenuta Tignanello. Fifty hectares of limestone-based land are currently planted with Sangiovese vines, from which only the best bunches were selected.

This wine was made in the monastery cellars in the abbey at the heart of the property. The grapes were destemmed, lightly crushed, and transferred to tank for fermentation, with pumping over used for extraction. There was a further ten to twelve days’ skin contact following alcoholic fermentation, after which the wine was moved to Hungarian oak barriques for malolactic fermentation and fourteen months’ ageing.