2018 Tignanello: Top Vintage, Value-For-Money And Validated Potential

Tignanello – A Gem Of The Antinori Dynasty

Tignanello is a milestone among Italian wines. Simply. Tignanello was the first Sangiovese wine to be aged in classic barriques. It was the first modern red wine blended with non-traditional varieties (especially cabernet) and one of the first wines from Chianti Classico not to use white grapes. At the same time, Tignanello, together with Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Solaia and Masseto, is one of the original Super Tuscans which have really put Italy on the wine world map, and have brought the best Italian wines right to the edge of the scene.

Tignanello was created in the 1970s, but we still must go all the way back to the year 1385, when the story of Tignanello was actually founded. Tignanello was created by, and is still owned by, Marchesi Antinori – a company with a history dating back to precisely 1385.

Antinori is not just any company. The Antinori family has the status of "Marchese", which is an Italian noble title that ranks above counts. The company is also listed among the oldest family-owned companies in the world. If this were not enough, Antinori also has a seat in the powerful Primum Familiae Vini (Latin for "First Families of Wine"), which is an organization for family-owned wine producers with just 12 seats. Here they are joined by i.a. Mouton-Rothschild, Drouhin, Egon Müller, Pol Roger and Vega Sicilia.

Antinori has played a special role in the development of Italian wines, and their innovation has largely contributed to the Super Tuscan revolution in the 70s. Today, Antinori is behind several of Italy's most famous wines – including Solaia and Guado Al Tasso, which are also described as Super Tuscans. A Super Tuscan is, roughly speaking, a wine that breaks the norms and does so in such an exceptional way that they actually move the norms. And although today there is a wider range of Super Tuscans, at any given time there will only be five originals – and one of these is the unique Tignanello.

Around 300,000-340,000 bottles of Tignanello are produced per vintage.

Tignanello Is A Sought-After Super-Brand

… And it's not just something we here at RareWinve Invest say.

Tignanello is more or less a permanent resident on Liv-ex's Power 100 list, which is a ranking of wines measured on various parameters such as brand value, traded value, traded volume etc.

Tignanello is on the 2021 list in 65th place – i.e. among the 100 best, most expensive and most sought-after wines in the world. But beyond the placement on this list, there are several interesting observations to be made. Tignanello accounted for 0.51% of the total traded value on Liv-ex in 2021 and for 0.91% of the total volume. For comparison, the figures for Solaia, for example, were 0.38% and 0.30%. At Dom Pérignon, which is number 4 on the list, the shares are 1.9% of value and 1.85% of volume. In this perspective, Tignanello is driving impressive shares.

Tignanello does not go unnoticed on wine-searcher.com either. Here, Tignanello is the 13th most searched wine on the platform. Here, the search volume is surpassed only by some of the biggest wines in the world and only one single Italian wine tops Tignanello on the list (Sassicaia as No. 5).

97.3 points across the world's three most important critics of Italian wine is of course an impressive achievement, but to do it three times within five vintages is even more impressive. Whether the wine lover places the greatest value on Vinous, Wine Advocate or James Suckling can be a subjective matter, but one thing is certain: the 2018 vintage is one of the three greatest Tignanellos ever released.

RareWine Invest’s Opinion

Tignanello is a super Tuscan darling that, with towering quality and a particularly attractive price, has won a deserved place in the hearts of most wine lovers. Even the most Francophile connoisseurs find a small, guilty place for this one in the wine cellar.

Historically speaking, Tignanello has guaranteed solid returns, but especially the recent vintages, here in particular the top vintages, have performed really well, and this before they have reached their optimal drinking window - and moreover while the wines still have some availability on the market.

The price increases are most likely due to the popularity, which both Liv-ex and wine-searcher.com validate in relation to search volume, traded value and traded volume.

Tignanello speaks very much to the trends we know from Champagne: Wines where the audience is huge and the price level allows drinking without thinking about whether there might be mature bottles left for the future. In other words, consumption is enormous, while the saving tradition is minimal. Something that gives the wine investor favorable conditions.

If you want to invest in a Super Tuscan, there are many good offers, but if you want one of the five originals, it goes without saying – and here the 2018 Tignanello looks like one of the really exciting investments of the future.