Our Wines
We produce 2 Chanticleer Estate wines in the Super Tuscan style; Chanticleer Cabernet Sauvignon and Chanticleer Sangiovese. Following is a brief background and history of Super Tuscan wines followed by a general description of our wines.The Chianti Region of Italy historically produced a Chianti wine which was principally Sangiovese. The D.O.C. laws defined what grapes must be in Chianti and they required a minimum of 10% white grapes, Trebbiano and Malvasia, to be blended with Sangiovese. In the 1970s, Antinori decided to make a richer Chianti wine by eliminating the white grapes from the traditional Chianti blend and instead substituted two Bordeaux varietals, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The result was a new wine they named Tignanello, which is considered to be the first Super Tuscan.
This wine was so avant-garde it ran afoul of D.O.C laws and, as a result, the D.O.C. gave this wine the label 'Vini da Tavola' or Table Wine, which was the lowest quality categorization. However, when these wines were introduced they were, and continue to be, some of the finest wines ever made in Italy. And, their prices were 10 or 20 times higher than an everyday Table Wine. And, they were very enthusiastically received by consumers.
As the result of Antinori’s success with Tignanello, more wineries began experimenting with Super Tuscan mixes and, because of their success and high prices, they were not concerned about strictly following the D.O.C. laws. As a result, Super Tuscan wines flourished.
There is no single definition of “Super Tuscan”, but it is generally accepted that the two principal varietals are Sangiovese and Cabernet with Sangiovese usually the predominant varietal. Both Chanticleer wines are considered “Super Tuscan” style wines.
