Antinori Solaia 1996 1500ml

WineSpectator.com, Nov 30, 1999
Good dark ruby color, with berry, tobacco and a hint of mint to its character. It's medium-bodied, boasts a solid core of fruit and polished tannins. Long finish. Solid Solaia. Needs bottle age. Best after 2000.

Solaia, a twenty hectare (50 acre) vineyard of the Tignanello estate with a southwestern exposure, is situated at 350-400 meters (1175-1325 feet) above sea level on a soil of calcareous rock (known as “alberese in Tuscany). The Marchesi Antinori firm produced this wine for the first time in the 1978 vintage with an initial blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Cabernet Franc, a blend repeated again in 1979. In the following vintages 20% of Sangiovese was added to the Cabernet grapes and the ratio of Cabernet Franc to Cabernet Sauvignon was changed in order to create a wine which has now become definitive in its various composing elements.
Solaia is only produced in superior vintages and was not produced in 1980, 1981, 1983,1984, and 1992.

Meats, Beef and Venison