92 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

This wine appears to have reached full maturity, where it should remain for another decade. The color is a healthy deep ruby/purple, and the nose offers up scents of roasted nuts, smoky oak, cassis, cedar, and leather. Medium to full-bodied, with lovely black fruit flavors wrapped gently in oak, this fleshy, supple, deliciously constituted wine is a treat to drink. Robert Parker, April 1995

88 points Wine Spectator

Surprisingly understated for the vintage. Medium ruby, with beautiful aromas and flavors of cherry, vanilla and chestnut. It’s medium body and tannins set up for a fresh, refined finish. James Suckling, October 1991

Cult Wines International Notes:

Marchesi Antinori stands as an unrivaled titan of Italian winemaking, boasting over six centuries and twenty-six generations of uninterrupted heritage. Situated in the heart of Chianti Classico on sun-drenched, high-altitude slopes rich in limestone, marl, and alberese rock, the historic Tignanello estate is famous for birthing a wine that fundamentally redefined modern Italian viticulture. First released in the early 1970s by Marchese Piero Antinori and legendary enologist Giacomo Tachis, Tignanello broke centuries of strict regional dogma by removing white grapes, introducing small French oak barrique aging, and blending international Cabernet into Sangiovese. For the 1986 vintage, the estate utilized its iconic, classic blend composed of 80% Sangiovese, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc.

The 1986 growing season across central Tuscany was a classic, steady, and cooler-toned campaign that ultimately rewarded meticulous vineyard stewards. Following a cold winter and a late, damp spring that delayed budbreak, the region enjoyed a warm, sun-drenched summer without the extreme heat waves that plagued other decades of the 1980s. A dry, temperate September allowed the Sangiovese and Cabernet blocks to complete a slow, extended ripening phase, building fine aromatic complexity, thick skins, and balanced sugars while preserving a firm backbone of natural acidity. Hand-harvested with rigorous cluster selection, the fruit was vinified in temperature-controlled vats with gentle extraction before spending 14 to 18 months maturing in French oak barriques prior to bottling.

At four decades of age, the 1986 Marchesi Antinori Tignanello has entered a fully mature, serene library phase. The primary red cherry notes of its youth have gracefully given way to a sophisticated, highly savory bouquet of saddle leather, dried dark plums, chestnut, cedar, and cold pipe tobacco. On the palate, the tannins have completely resolved into a silky, supple matrix, framed by a persistent vein of dried herbs, dried cassis, and underlying graphite minerality. This fully evolved vintage represents an essential acquisition for collectors seeking a pristine, mature snapshot from Tuscany’s seminal Super Tuscan pioneer.