Osteria di Passignano - Tavarnelle Val di Pesa (Italy)

Visiting Osteria di Passignano is an experience that I will never forget. This upscale restaurant is part of the Antinori empire and located in the middle of beautiful Chianti wineries.

Before our meal, we visited the amazing wine cellars located underground the Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo a Passignano, right by the restaurant, which dates from the 890s and where some of the very best Antinori’s wines are aging in wooden barrels. During the visit, we were explained the story behind the place and I found it particularly interesting to learn how the famous Tignanello label was previously not prestigious inside Italy and even labeled as “Table Wine”, since it did not follow the certification requirements.

That is because this wine was a pioneer in mixing San Giovesi grapes with Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as using French oak barrels for the the aging process, given Piero Antinori’s passion for classic Bordeaux wine production. It was only when wine critic Robert Parker came across a bottle of TIgnanello during a blind tasting that this label started to receive its much deserved recognition - first internationally and then inside of Italy. From that point forward, it slowly began to change how Italian producers thought about wine and ended up being a watershed in the country’s wine culture that became much more focused on quality from that point forward.

We then headed back to the restaurant and had a glorious tasting menu for dinner that displayed traditional Tuscan cuisine. I particularly enjoyed the guinea fowl in milfoil pastry and the gnocchi with beef cheek and mushrooms. To make it all even better, we chose a wine pairing that served different Antinori labels for each dish, including the celebrated Tignanello and Solaia.

(Versão em Português nos comentários)