Biography
The Antinori family is closely identified with the city of Florence, to which it moved, from nearby Calenzano, in the early 13th century, first working in the field of silk production and then moving to the commerce of wine. Giovanni di Piero Antinori, in fact, joined the Vintners Guild of Florence in 1385. The family has been a protagonist in the world of Tuscan wine for 26 generations with a series of initiatives which were truly avant-garde at their time: in 1898, with the foundation of the Fattoria dei Marchesi Lodovico and Piero Antinori, a modern and organized firm had already been created. Over the last 30 years, the company guided by Marquis Piero Antinori, has become, in terms of overall business volume, the most important private group in Italy with a production of some 18 million bottles. Though closely identified with Tuscany, the Marchesi Antinori firm also owns estates in other regions, first and foremost in Umbria, owns some 3500 total acres of vineyards, and has invested in many other viticultural areas of the world, from Hungary to California and Chile. The most significant feature of the Antinori wines is their overall high quality, even in the lower-priced wines. Piero Antinori became the leader in the Renaissance of Italian wine with the creation of Tignanello, the first Super Tuscan, produced form the blending of Sangiovese and Cabernet and aged in small oak barrels. There are many jewels in the family collection created under the guidance of Piero Antinori: Solaia, born in Chianti Classico just like Tignanello; Guado al Tasso, produced at Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast; Pian delle Vigne, a Brunello di Montalcino; Cervaro della Sala, produced, along with Muffato della Sala, a prototypical dessert wine with pourriture noble (noble rot), near Orvieto in Umbria. The future guidance of the firm will be entirely in feminine hands: Piero Antinori, in fact, has three daughters, Albiera, Allegra, and Alessia. Theirs will be a new way to be in pace with their times.