Exploring architecture and wine at the Antinori Chianti Classico Winery

Our series “The Genesis of Craftsmanship,” in collaboration with A. Lange & Söhne, takes us into the studios of makers whose painstaking manual work is carrying the time-honoured tradition of their crafts into the future. This time, we enter a state-of-the-art winery near Florence belonging to one of the oldest wine-producers in Italy – the Antinori family.

Surrounded by charming hillsides and vineyards, the Antinori Chianti Classico Winery is housed in a sleek concrete structure that blends into the serene Tuscan landscape. Entering the site, you’re met with elegant circular cuts and an impressive spiral staircase that offers a taste of what’s brewing below the ground.

The heart of the winery is in the cellar where terracotta vaults line the space and barrels of wine sit in rows under dim lighting. Nestled into the walls are two intimate rooms for visitors to taste the wines, hear more about the production processes and to simply absorb the atmosphere. The Antinori family’s journey of winemaking goes back six centuries to 1385 when Giovanni di Piero Antinori became part of the ‘Arte Fiorentina dei Vinattieri’, the Florentine winemakers guild.

Nowadays, the business is run by Marchese Piero Antinori and his three daughters, Albiera, Allegra and Alessia, who are carrying the family’s traditions and passion for wine into the 20th century. With its many wine tours, the cellar has become a popular destination for wine lovers who visit the region.