TENUTA DI BISERNO
TUSCANY, ITALY 2022
WHY BUY: The 97-point 2022 Tenuta di Biserno is one of the most exciting Italian wines we've poured this year, a Cabernet Franc-dominated, Bordeaux-style Super Tuscan consciously modeled on Cheval Blanc, and built to deliver the same concentration, depth, and length. Lodovico Antinori, the legendary Italian vintner behind Ornellaia, built Biserno after parting with that estate in 2002, partnering with the late, great Michel Rolland on a stony, hilly Bibbona parcel he had discovered years earlier while scouting to expand Ornellaia, and recognized as too distinct in soil and exposure to incorporate into the fold. And oh, by the way — at $175 a bottle, it also represents tremendous value in the stratifying world of Super Tuscans.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: “Intensity and elegance dominate,” wrote James Suckling, in his 97-point paean, a wine of “velvety tannins, refreshing acidity, a slightly chalky finish and a long, savory aftertaste.”
OUR TASTING NOTES: The wine opens with a kind of sun-warmed Mediterranean coolness, with teasing hints of eucalyptus, crushed herbs, and fruit picked at the height of summer. In the background, the faint memory of something sweet and spicy. The palate is dense and concentrated but not heavy in the least, with tannins that are just firm enough to give it shape and definition, but generous enough to keep things gracious. We loved the saline, slightly chalky lift at the end that brings to mind the coastal terroir without putting too fine a point on it, and the finish that just won’t quit. This is a wine that is not in any hurry at all to leave you, and that imprints itself upon you. A triumph. And one to stock up on.
THE STORY: The year was 1994, and Lodovico Antinori was searching for land. Specifically, he was searching for land that could expand his already-storied Super Tuscan estate, Ornellaia, which he had founded just over a decade earlier and which had begun to attract the kind of attention that makes a winemaker want more vineyard space. What he found, in the rolling hills of Bibbona in the Upper Maremma, was 90 hectares of something else entirely: stonier, hillier, with a unique mineral signature owing to its peculiar mix of clay, silt, and Bolgheri conglomerate. It was beautiful land. But also, a problem for him, because it was too unlike Ornellaia to belong to Ornellaia. So what did he do? Nothing, for a while. He sat on it. Then came 2002, and the sale of Ornellaia, a complicated, partly involuntary parting from the estate he had built. And now the Bibbona land moved from happy problem to focal point. Antinori brought in his older brother Piero (yes, that Piero, of Marchesi Antinori) and his sister Ilaria, and reached for a consultant whose name carries serious Right Bank gravity: Michel Rolland. They planted Bordeaux varietals — Cabernet Franc above all — on soils that Rolland and Antinori both recognized as bearing a peculiar likeness to the great parcels of Pomerol and Saint-Émilion. From the start, their aim was to create Super Tuscans that taste unmistakably of place in its fruit and energy, but that also have the structural and aromatic ambition of a top Saint-Émilion. They have succeeded, and wildly, producing one of the greatest estates of the 21st century.
WHAT TO PAIR IT WITH: The call here is the best cut of meat, like a rack of lamb, or a porterhouse, and roasted slowly with wild herbs. But this wine also has the structural sophistication to handle an array of foods, from Moroccan lamb tagine with preserved lemon to a Persian fesenjan.
FUN FACT: Lodovico Antinori's older brother Piero, who co-founded Biserno with him in 2001, runs Marchesi Antinori, whose history in the trade traces back to … wait for it ... 1385.
OUR GUARANTEE: As always, we only source directly from the producer to ensure that your bottles arrive as they should: with pristine provenance guaranteed.
*Offer NOT valid in-store. This offer is made pre-arrival, with wines estimated to be delivered to your preferred store in Fall 2026. With the supply chain issues that we are seeing globally, there may be some unforeseen delays which could affect the ETA. All sale prices are the lowest available at Total Wine & More and ONLY valid through Concierge Sales. No further discounts or coupons may be applied. Offer not valid in KS, MI, NY, OK & TN. See individual items for additional state exclusions. This offer will expire on Sunday, June 21st, 2026.