ANTINORI Guado al Tasso Bolgheri Superiore 2020 CASE x 6 Bottles (los)

Description

THE WINE ADVOCATE 96 points
Drink Date: 2025 - 2045
The Marchesi Antinori 2020 Bolgheri Superiore Guado al Tasso sees Cabernet Franc at over 30% of the blend in this vintage, with the rest going to Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% to 20% to Merlot. Matarocchio was not produced this year, and this wine benefits from the extra Cabernet Franc as a result. The 2019 and 2021 vintages of Guado al Tasso are quite concentrated and rich, whereas 2020 is leaner in texture, along the lines of the edition we saw made in 2010. There was rain in September. Managing Director Renzo Cotarella says he would not describe 2020 as a hot vintage because the rain did pose challenges at the end of the growing season. In Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast, budbreak is earlier than in other appellations, and the growing season is longer as a result. This is a benefit to the international varieties used here. The wine shows nice richness and intensity. The Cabernet Franc definitely comes through and adds the characteristic vertical lift and linearity that the grape is known for. You get black fruit, spice, white pepper and no signs of bitter stems or bramble. Sweet, almost milky tannins are interlocked with fresh acidity to give this wine good cellaring potential. The new oak was dialed back a bit in this vintage.

One of the biggest news stories to hit fine wine this year is the full acquisition of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa by Tuscany’s Marchesi Antinori in May 2023. The Antinori family enjoyed a 16-year partnership with the celebrated winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970. It is now the full owner. The announcement was made by the Antinori family and long-time USA partner Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, which has a portfolio of wines in the American Northwest (Washington and Oregon). Marchesi Antinori is the only Italian company to own a winery in Napa. Marchese Piero Antinori first traveled to California’s wine country in the 1960s and fell in love. In 1985, his family started making wine in Napa (with the company known as Antica, which is short for “Antinori in California”). “It is an honor for me and my family to make good on a promise made to my friend Warren Winiarski 16 years ago,” says Marchese Piero Antinori. “We wanted to safeguard the values and the heritage of the prestigious Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.” The Stag’s Leap 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon was singled out in the celebrated Judgement of Paris in 1976 that pitted the best of Californian wine against Bordeaux. It sparked a revolution in the world of fine wine.