Tenuta Tignanello Chianti Classico Riserva 2021 was recently suggested by the Wine Advocate's Monica Larner as the wine to buy from the Antinori portfolio these days. Consistently overperforming and excellent value (I can also offer the excellent 2020, which was rated as Wine Spectator's number 7 wine of the year in 2023.

Antinori’s Chianti Classico Riserva is consistently outstanding, and, again, superb in 2021. The grape source is the iconic Tenuta Tignanello, the source of Antinori’s game-changing super Tuscans Tignanello and Solaia. CEO Renzo Cotarella oversees the winemaking. His team blends 90 percent Sangiovese with Merlot and Cabernet Franc after fermenting and malolactic conversion in open-topped, conical stainless steel tanks; aging takes place in 225-liter French oak barriques for 14 months. The wine’s iron, olive and tobacco notes deliver that Tuscan feel, and the riserva designation, for just a few dollars more, ensures greater depth, structure and longevity than the annata.