
Badia a Passignano 2021
Chianti Classico
Tuscany, Italy
Regular price£185.00
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Arriving: Summer 2025
Style: Red | Packaging: OCC |
ABV: 14.5% | Closure: Cork |
Organic: | Drink from: 2026 |
Biodynamic: | Drink to: 2040 |
Grapes: 100% Sangiovese |
Critic scores
94 RP, 95 AG, 96 JS, 95 DC
Critic reviews
"I had previously reviewed this vintage closer to its commercial release. Tasted seven months later, the Marchesi Antinori 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Badia a Passignano has fleshed out nicely and has successfully shedded its oak signature. What you get now is a pretty mouthful of rich, ripe black fruits with background notes of green spice and smoked bacon. There is a hint of fragrant rose that emerges beautifully at one specific point a few minutes in. This expression from the San Donato in Poggio UGA delivers bright and lively fruit overall. With a storied winemaking tradition and first produced in 1988, you could say that this wine is the control sample against which the three new UGA expressions are measured."
Monica Larner, October 2024, RobertParker.com
"The 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Badia a Passignano is one of the best editions of this wine I have ever tasted. Ripe blue-toned fruit, spice, chocolate, leather and licorice fill out the layers in an ample, full-bodied Gran Selezione. Here, too, changes in vinification and aging yielded a wine that marries refinement with textural resonance. Superb."
Antonio Galloni, June 2024, Vinous.com
"Wow. This shows a beautiful shift in character towards freshness and brightness, with lots of dried flowers and hints of sandalwood. Medium to full body with firm, fine tannins. Energetic finish. Lots of fresh herbs and pine to the fruit at the end. Pure sangiovese. Give this a couple of years, but already top-quality Chianti Classico. Best ever?"
James Suckling, August 2024, JamesSuckling.com
"The Badia a Passignano vineyards, close to the Tenuta Tignanello estate, lie at an altitude of between 250 and 300 metres above sea level and are surrounded by 600-metre high hills to the east and southwest, which form a protective amphitheatre. This area is described by Antinori as a ‘geographical liaison between the UGA of San Casciano and the UGA of Panzano’. It has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and summers that remain fresh and well ventilated. This in turn encourages a longer, slower ripening season. The 2021 has some notes of green herb as well as bitter cherry, orange zest and sweet vanilla. There is a touch of forest greenness and a balsamic note, as well as spicy black pepper. On the palate the tannins are firm, upright and assertive but always refined. There is a beautiful soft, enveloping texture and weight, and the acidity gives mouthwatering freshness on the finish. It is a little oak-dominant at present, but is still young and needs time. A beautifully made wine that expresses a strong identity."
Susan Hulme, September 2024, Decanter.com
Monica Larner, October 2024, RobertParker.com
"The 2021 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Badia a Passignano is one of the best editions of this wine I have ever tasted. Ripe blue-toned fruit, spice, chocolate, leather and licorice fill out the layers in an ample, full-bodied Gran Selezione. Here, too, changes in vinification and aging yielded a wine that marries refinement with textural resonance. Superb."
Antonio Galloni, June 2024, Vinous.com
"Wow. This shows a beautiful shift in character towards freshness and brightness, with lots of dried flowers and hints of sandalwood. Medium to full body with firm, fine tannins. Energetic finish. Lots of fresh herbs and pine to the fruit at the end. Pure sangiovese. Give this a couple of years, but already top-quality Chianti Classico. Best ever?"
James Suckling, August 2024, JamesSuckling.com
"The Badia a Passignano vineyards, close to the Tenuta Tignanello estate, lie at an altitude of between 250 and 300 metres above sea level and are surrounded by 600-metre high hills to the east and southwest, which form a protective amphitheatre. This area is described by Antinori as a ‘geographical liaison between the UGA of San Casciano and the UGA of Panzano’. It has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters and summers that remain fresh and well ventilated. This in turn encourages a longer, slower ripening season. The 2021 has some notes of green herb as well as bitter cherry, orange zest and sweet vanilla. There is a touch of forest greenness and a balsamic note, as well as spicy black pepper. On the palate the tannins are firm, upright and assertive but always refined. There is a beautiful soft, enveloping texture and weight, and the acidity gives mouthwatering freshness on the finish. It is a little oak-dominant at present, but is still young and needs time. A beautifully made wine that expresses a strong identity."
Susan Hulme, September 2024, Decanter.com
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Shipping under bond is dependant on location, but starts at £15 per consignment.