Tasting Six Vintages of Antinori’s Solaia in Hong Kong

Solaia Tasting

It was fascinating to taste six vintages of Antinori’s Solaia last night in Hong Kong. The importer Links Concept organized the small event with Panerai watches (one of my favorite brands) and I powered through the six years: 2003, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. 

The tasting underlines how vintage specific Solaia remains, and how one of the granddaddys of Super Tuscan wines is such an international success. The cabernet and sangiovese blend (usually 80% cabernet sauvignon, 15% sangiovese and 5% cabernet franc) is a good barometer of the character of specific vintages in Tuscany. And it’s always one of the best wines each year. 

Solaia comes from a 20-hectare property in the heart of Chianti Classico, which is now called Tenuta Tignanello but was originally simply the Antinori wine estate near the town of San Casciano. The hillside vineyard is in the heart of the estate where the best vines grow — nestled within an amphitheater-like slope formation. Some of the vineyards were replanted in the mid-2000s but they are all up to speed now.

Here is a video from a few years back during the summer so you can see the vineyards: 

I have not tasted the 2014 yet — I expect to in the next two to three months – but it should be outstanding as I rated the 2014 Tignanello 94 points. Even so, it probably won’t be on a par with the 2012 or 2013. Summer rains marred the 2014 vintage in Tuscany, as in many other parts of Italy. Only half of Solaia’s normal production was made in 2014. Stay tuned.