Villa Cosmiana’s ‘Super Tuscan’ which bears the name of the most famous owner of the estate, Amerigo Antinori, Duke of Brindisi, is assembled from the estate’s best Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties. The wine is aged in a mix of French and American oak barrels for a minimum of 12 months before being assembled in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks and further matured in the bottle for a minimum period of six months.
It shows a deep red garnet colour and displays aromas of red fruit candied in vanilla, cocoa and cinnamon. It has a strong density and is long in the mouth with almost velvety tannins.
Duca Amerigo
Amerigo Antinori, duke of Brindisi, 1828-1902, was born in an old Florentine patrician family and became, starting from the age of 20, chamberlain of the last Grand duke of Tuscany, Leopold II. Following the annexion of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the new kingdom of Italy, he shared his time between Florence where he became private secretary and administrator of the properties of the exiled Grand Duke family and the Villa Cosmiana estate in Peccioli where he oversaw the management of his agricultural properties attached to the villa.
His name, Duca Amerigo, has been given as a tribute to the most prestigious wine of Villa Cosmiana, a « super Tuscan » matured 12 months in oak barrels made from an exceptional Merlot harvested within the estate.
Villa Cosmiana
Villa Cosmiana is the former Pisan wine estate of the Antinori family of the dukes of Brindisi situated between Pisa and Volterra. The prestigious estate which extends to over 30 hectares is situated around an aristocratic Villa surrounded by Italianate gardens, an English-style park and 15 vineyards of various Tuscan and Bordeaux grape varieties.
In its historic vaults, cellars and recently created cantina, Villa Cosmiana produces three traditional Tuscan wines (whites and reds) as well as two Super Tuscans created by the renowned and award-winning enologist Barbara Tamburini, awarded best enologist of Italy by the Italian Sommelier Association, Bibenda in 2019.
Today Villa Cosmiana is the vision of Abergevenny born Sean Craig who since 2018 has committed himself to re-building the vineyards and gardens of the Villa Cosmiana estate