Antinori Wine Cellars, Where History, Art, and Wine Converge

A visit to Antinori nel Chianti Classico’s restaurant Rinuccio 1180 makes for a memorable experience

A trip to Tuscany is incomplete without visiting the wineries that make the region one of the most significant in the global wine industry. Before we rented a car in Florence, where being the designated driver is like pulling the short straw, we booked an uber to drive us about 30 minutes out of the city centre, to the village of Bargino, most famous for being home to the Antinori winery’s cellars: Antinori nel Chianti Classico (Marchesi Antinori).

As we drove out of the city and the landscape around us changed from Renaissance architecture to sprawling vineyards, the significance of Antinori to the locals became instantly apparent when our driver proudly stated that his heart bursts with joy each time he drops off people to the winery.

The building houses the visitor gallery, the winemaking centre and a rooftop restaurant, along with the family’s impressive personal art collection.

Designed by Marco Casamonti, its architecture is remarkable for the way it harmoniously blends into its natural surroundings. The structure is mostly buried into the hillside to not just be inconspicuous but also to sustainably maintain a constant temperature in the state of the art facility.

At the drop off point, you make your way up the iconic spiral staircase, which slowly reveals the building and the views of the lush hillside. Tastings take place in a glass pod suspended over the barrels in the cellar. The restaurant, Rinuccio 1180, a nod to Rinuccio Antinori, forefather of the Antinori family, is set on the roof terrace in warmer months, with breathtaking, panoramic views of the Tuscan vineyards. It champions local ingredients to make traditional Tuscan dishes in an elegant, modern style which can be paired along with the entire Antinori collection. I tried the crispy zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta, beef croquettes and green sauce, eggplant parmesan and ended with a Florentine T-bone steak, paired beautifully with a bottle of Tignanello (there is no place in the world where you will be able to buy a cheaper bottle).

Visiting Antinori feels somewhat like entering the temple of the Super Tuscan. Tignanello was the first wine not to display the black rooster, symbol of the Chianti Classico, on its label. While there is some grey area around whether Sassicaia (produced by Tenuta San Guido in the Bolgheri region) or Tignanello produced by Antinori was truly the first ever Super Tuscan, learning about Marcheri Piero Antinori and his star eonoligist Giacomo Tachis as the rebels who broke the rules of Chianti, will give you goosebumps.

It’s no easy feat to be recognised as the best winery in the world by the World’s Best Vineyards, but spending the day at Antinori nel Chianti Classico makes it abundantly clear why it deserves the accolade. You don’t have to be a local to feel the significance of the history that was created here. If you love wine, a visit to one of Italy’s most beautiful wineries is a pilgrimage that must be done.