Antinori Solaia Reviews
Learn More About Antinori Solaia Through its Reviews.
2020 Antinori Solaia Reviews
98 Pointz James Suckling
“Subtle and beautiful on the nose with currants, flowers, and light sage aromas that follow through to a full body with ultra-fine tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Extremely polished and poised. Classy.”
97 Pointz Vinous
“The 2020 Solaia is an infant. I expected a more exuberant wine, but the 2020 is built along more classic lines. Black cherry, plum, gravel, incense, smoke, pencil shavings, and spice all open effortlessly. As always, Solaia is a Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine, but it is a Cabernet that is distinctly Italian, with plenty of Tuscan acid and structure driving through the mid-palate and into the finish. The 2020 is a terrific example of the recent stylistic shift at Antinori. In the past, richness and opulence were qualities of a vintage that would have been amplified in the vineyard and cellar. Today, the aim is to capture a more balanced expression of these kinds of vintages, and that very much comes through.”
96 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“Inky dark in appearance, the 2020 Solaia is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with smaller percentages of Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese. This vintage unfolds to exuberant richness and thick layers of blackberry and plum. The tannins are sweet and expertly crafted, adding both depth and fruit weight. The 2020 vintage is quite bold, and it plays its best cards in terms of texture and mouthfeel. It’s a bigger, more accessible wine compared to the last two vintages on the market. Spice, toasted coffee bean, and more dark fruit color this full-bodied Tuscan red.”
Bonus Reviews
France
98 Pointz Jane Anson, Master of Wine Inside Bordeaux
“A great vintage of the iconic Solaia, full of cloves, sage, graphite, grilled dried herbs, underbrush, and roasted cherry pit. There's fruit too, bilberry and cassis, juicy and mouthwatering, both understated and exuberant, ensuring a Tuscan fingerprint despite its majority Cabernet Sauvignon construction. Has grip and length, and effortless charm, reflecting an excellent vintage with low yields after a hot dry summer. Antinori family showing once again why this wine, that comes from 20ha the sunniest slopes of the Tignanello estate, set at 350-400m altitude, is so hard to resist.”
United Kingdom
97 Pointz Decanter
“Baked black fruit, ripe, fragrant, and intense on the nose. Bright and sour fruit on the palate, quite a sharp initial tang from the high acidity before rich, sunny, ripe strawberries and raspberries come into play with liquorice, toast, and cedar aspects giving the spiced element to the expression and graphite offering minerality. This is a powerful wine no doubt, bordering on too hedonistic at times - a result of the hot and dry summer, it's sensual, rich, and flashy but the sense of control and layers of juicy freshness help balance the opulence with refinement. Clearly confident and charismatic, fans of this style will delight with Solaia in 2020. Made by Renzo Cotarella, Stefano Caraneto and Pietro Dogliani.”
2019 Antinori Solaia Reviews
This wine is a blend of 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 20% Sangiovese.
98 Pointz James Suckling
“This has a complex array of blackberries, black cherries, cocoa, dried herbs, slate, tobacco, olives, and charred bark. Some dried roses and iodine, too. Medium-to full-bodied with firm yet refined tannins. Powerful, in an understated way. Long. 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 20% Sangiovese. Try in 2025.”
98 Pointz Wine Spectator
“Youthful, featuring intense fresh black currant, blackberry, and black cherry fruit wrapped in accents of cedar, Mediterranean scrub, and toasty oak, with a mineral streak underlining everything. Shows a solid spine of tannins that lend support, while the dark fruit returns on the finish. Delivers terrific balance, vigor, and excruciating length, yet this needs time in the bottle. Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2026 through 2045.”
97 Pointz Vinous
“The 2019 Solaia is fabulous. Deep and exquisitely layered, the 2019 is so expressive right out of the gate. Succulent dark cherry, plum, licorice, incense, pipe tobacco, chocolate, and grilled herbs all take shape. Here, too, the aromatics are alluring. Cabernet Franc is bumped up a bit in the blend, and that works so well here. Solaia is often a bombastic, intense wine. The 2019 is incredibly refined and buttoned up. Readers will have to be patient. The 2019 Solaia is the sort of wine I would like to spend a whole evening with. Aging was 18 months in 100% new French oak.”
97 Pointz Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“The 2019 Marchesi Antinori Solaia is another blockbuster success from Tuscany's leading wine estate. The blend sees a slightly higher percentage of Cabernet Franc and a slightly lower percentage of Sangiovese. The current mix is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Sangiovese, and 10% Cabernet Franc (which has been creeping up in recent years, especially as the climate changes). The soils at the Solaia vineyard are rich in Galestro rock, which is an especially happy pairing with Cabernet Franc in particular. Managing Director Renzo Cotarella tells me that that a vintage like 2019 is proof that the final character of a wine comes from its surrounding territory, not from the blend. This is a generous and extremely expressive edition with lots of dark fruit, spice, and sweet tobacco. The tannins are beautifully velvety and soft. This is a beautiful wine that collectors will love.”
97 Pointz Wine Enthusiast
“This wine has a deeply savory nose, with seaweed, soy sauce, olives, tobacco, black licorice, and a rich medley of cherries, blackberries, and plums. The fruity, spicy palate brings more berries, dark chocolate, and chili peppers, emphasized by palpable heat and sticky but gentle tannins through a seemingly infinite finish. It's exceptionally drinkable now, but a few more years would guarantee a command performance. “
Bonus Reviews
United Kingdom
97 Pointz Decanter
“Wonderful raspberry and black cherry fragrance on the nose, ripe and sweet and expressive, aromas bursting from the glass. Fleshy and sweet, sticky and full, this is giving a whole load of ripe, plush tannins and powerful fruit but underpinned by bright acidity that keeps things lifted and vibrant. A very serious wine, this is brooding and confident. It's showcasing lots of elements right now - ample, generous, hefty, and stylish with flecks of red flowers, white pepper spice, ground coffee, herbs, and chocolate. A dark horse at the moment waiting for its moment to fully shine. Individual lots were fermented in 60hl truncated cone-shaped vats, racked with malolactic fermentation beginning in barriques followed by ageing for 18 months in French oak barrels before blending and reput into barrels to complete the process.”