Marchesi Antinori Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2016 750ml

About Badia a Passignano

One of the Antinori family of estates, Badia a Passignano sits on just over 550 acres in the heart of Chianti Classico in Sambuca Val di Pesa, a few miles south of Antinori’s Tignanello estate. Badia a Passignano has grown Sangiovese for millennia, and therefore it was a natural decision for the Antinori family to dedicate this winery to the production of Chianti Classico Gran Selezione, the crème de la crème of Chianti’s wines. Like a fairytale fortress in the heart of Chianti Classico, Badia a Passignano’s stone walls rise out of a thicket of cypress trees, and this former abbey, originally built at some point between 395 and 891, has played home to the Vallombrosian order, an arm of the Benedictine monks, for centuries — in fact, the Vallombrosian monks, who specialize in viniculture and forestry, continue to live on the premises. In 1987, the Antinori family bought the land surrounding the abbey, and the Antinori family uses the abbey’s ancient cellars to age its Chianti Classico Gran Selezione.