There is something deeply romantic about Tenuta di Tinoro, a 200-hectare estate in the rolling hills of the Marema which was bought by Andrea Franchetti with the sale of a single painting by his uncle Cy Twombly over 30 years ago.
Franchetti, a son of Italian nobility, set out to make the best wine in the world, and also the best value wine in the world – with no middle ground and no compromise. Solitary and introspective he was one of Italy’s great winemakers.
The Tenuta di Trinoro estate (left centre) in situ
If the estate's back story reads like a chapter from Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, then the landscape is more one in which the Corleone family would feel at home – rustic, tough and as far away from pretty Chianti-shire as you could possibly get in such a short distance away.
An early shot of the Tenuta di Trinoro team with Andrea Franchetti (centre)
There would have been much gesticulation of the hands and shrugging when Franchetti first planted vines here – you can drive for many miles before you find another vineyard – and as for planting Bordelais grapes over Sangiovese…
Tasting with Andrea Franchetti, Hedonism, London, 2016
As Monica Larner has described them, these are “outlier wines in style and substance,” they are also idiosyncratic and quite brilliant:
Bianco Trinoro a 100% Semillon grown in a high-altitude forest and pressed direct into barrique, Palazzi a world-beating 100% Merlot;
The three very different expressions of Cabernet Franc that are Campo di Magnacosta, Campo di Tenaglia and Campo di Camagi
the three single vineyard Campo wines of 100% Cabernet Franc all made in the same way but with different terroirs dictating huge differences in style; and then the estate flagship, Tenuta di Trinoro and its second wine Le Cupole – both Bordeaux blends with components that vary vintage to vintage.
20 hectares of the estate are planted to high density vines, predominantly on blue clay-rich soils, at an altitude between 400-620 metres of elevation.The estate makes about 120,000 bottles of wine a year, 100,00 Le Cupole, 8-9,000 bottles of Tenuta di Trinoro and 12,000 bottles across the other five cuvées.
The group Vini Franchetti also represents Passopisciaro a winery in Sicily that Andrea started renovating in 2000 and which produces nine different wines, and Sancaba which Andrea's cousin, Carlo Franchetti, acquired in 2011 and produces three wines, mainly Pinot Noir, with the winemaking taking place at Tenuta di Trinoro.
The guest room in the main house at the estate is full of great beauty. The young Andrea Franchetti top left.
How to categorise the wines
Since his father’s death, Benjamin Franchetti is now running the Marema and Sicily estates, alongside winemaker Lorenzo Fornaini. Benjamin questions the use of the term Bordelais, given that ‘Bordeaux varieties’ like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon have been grown for so long in Italy and have developed their own unique characteristics.
Benjamin Franchetti - now running the estate
‘Super Tuscan’ is also a term the team steers away from (even though it’s used on the Vini Franchetti website). The group head of marketing Lene Bucelli who was my host when I visited the estate believes the wines stand apart from generic labelling and should be seen alongside other ‘individual Tuscan wines’ like Petrolo’s Galatrona, Montevertine or the wines of Bibi Graetz
“People say ‘Super Tuscan’ but that has connotations of full-bodied Bordeaux blends made with Sangiovese and long ageing in oak. You also think of the coast and Super Tuscans from established wineries – Siepi, for example, set out to make a Super Tuscan. But Andrea was a culture of one. Where do you put it on the wine list for example? These are wines that have become classics… I would much rather you call us ‘vin de garage’ than Super Tuscan,” Bucelli says.
The team has installed sun nets to prolong hang time on Merlot and Cabernet Franc vineyards
Apart from his fastidious work in the vineyard Andrea had a reputation of being a genius blender, using the full moon in February as the time when he would assemble 50 micro-vinifications. The team also bottles the wines after the rising moon in May.
“The style and quality that we are looking for are always clear in my mind,” says Benjamin,“and the fact that we put on the table as many as 50 different micro-vinifications every year and have no predefined recipe means that each new Tenuta di Trinoro is really tailor-made, springing from our terroir with its distinctive soils and from the traits of the vintage. This way we can create something truly exceptional each year.”
Tasting Palazzi
A full-throttle Tuscan 100% Merlot from a variety of high-altitude parcels. The vineyards are high density, low yield, with grapes picked when fully ripe. The wine spends six months in barrique (20% new) followed by a year in cement tanks. Approachable young with smooth, velvety tannins but structurally sound to age for decades.
Palazzi Trinoro Rossi Toscana 2015
From a powerhouse vintage, a wine with huge intensity and concentration on the nose, very fresh and open on the palate despite the high 15.5% abv. Attractive notes of bell pepper, summer berries, candy and iodine.
Palazzi Trinoro Rossi Toscana 2020
A relatively cool year with the fruit having a lengthy maturation, time; more floral aromas and ripe on the palate, but balanced and more elegant – feels less ‘meaty’ and black.
Palazzi Trinoro Rossi Toscana 2022
A very warm and dry vintage all the way through the summer –the grapes were the size of blueberries. Rain saved the day. Stunning nose of cherries, spices, caramel. The palate is concentrated with black fruit and mocha notes.
Le Cupole 2022
57% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Franc, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot
The first wine made at the estate, the debut vintage being 1995, this is a sort-of ‘Mini Me’ version of Tenuta di Trinoro made in an easy drinking, approachable style. Hot vintage (as above). Light purple to look at, red and black fruit (mulberry) with wild herbs; on the palate the wine is fresh, light, with ripe powdery tannins that assert themselves and stay with you throughout the long finish. This is a great gastronomic wine with terrific balance and acidity – quintessentially Italian but with ripe, youthful tannins. Amazing value for money.
Tenuta di Trinoro 2022 - the latest vintage
Tenuta di Trinoro 2022
44% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot
The estate flagship, a blend whose component percentages change vintage to vintage this wine being the first since 2015 to feature all four red varieties found on the estate.First vintage was made in 1997.Deep ruby red; this is alluring and hedonistic. The nose is complex and layered which first hits you with immediate freshness, a feeling of wet clay, and then reveals wild bramble fruit, dried black petals, leather, incense, dark chocolate; in the mouth the wine is disarmingly fresh and light then reveals a tightly wound spring of micro-fine tannins and a core of fresh acidity that begs for a few more years in the bottle. RRP, incidentally is about £250 a 750cl bottle.
Back vintages of Tenuta di Trinoro tasted
Andrea Franchetti loved the 2015 vintage – full-on wines that make you sit up straight away while Benjamin prefers the more elegant vintages.
Tenuta di Trinoro 2020
Andrea Franchetti’s last wine, a cool vintage in which the Merlot struggled for optimum ripeness. Slightly reserved nose; reddish purple to look at; a hint of pollen and wild honey on the nose; terrific texture and balance, fresh but structured; black fruit and hearth.
Tenuta di Trinoro 2015
Warm, powerhouse vintage which is immediately apparent in a ripe, sweet, floral note; nice concentration, a touch jammy; on the palate the wine is very fresh and open, classy, polished, really structured with so much fruit; layered, with an attractive liquorice note on the curt finish.
Tenuta di Trinoro 2013
A cool vintage which manifests itself in a wine that has a leaner, keener, more elegant edge with mouth puckering tannins. The nose is reserved nose, floral, chalky. The palate is disarmingly fresh and belies the wine’s age; bright, precise, with keen acidity, blueberry and blue plum skin.
Tenuta di Trinoro 2021
Another warm vintage, not as plush a wine as 2015 and has more wildness about it. Slightly precocious quality on the nose; in the mouth the wine is juicy, with lovely dusty tannins lurking underneath. Slightly disjointed, the various elements need more time to integrate fully but the omens are good.
Tenuta di Trinoro 1999
A hot vintage with the 15% abv wine coming across almost like a Napa wine. This is huge initially with bags of fruit and secondary/ tertiary notes starting to develop in the glass. On the palate there’s a preserved, liquor-like, sweet quality to the wine. Initially big and explosive and then it starts to feel more classic on drinking.
Tenuta di Trinoro 1998
80% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot
Andrea experimented the most with these earlier vintages. Stunning mouthfeel with meat juices, concentrated preserved fruit and the Cabernet Sauvignon lending a hint of wild mint. Very dry finish.
