Corney & Barrow managing director Adam Brett-Smith began the lunch to honour the Marchese Lodovico Antinori by looking back at a relationship that stretches across decades.
“It’s an introduction that I wrote on 29 January 1997,” he recalled. “And it said: ‘It started with a lunch and ended with a dog – or more accurately, an English white bull terrier.’”
The relationship between Brett-Smith and the Lodovico Antinori goes back even further. It is a friendship and business relationship built on trust, lunches and handshakes.
Listening to them reminisce brought with it a certain nostalgia – and perhaps a little sadness that these longstanding personal relationships are increasingly being replaced by paperwork, emails and Zoom calls.
Brett-Smith continued by recalling those early days together and Corney & Barrow’s role as exclusive distributor for almost a decade.
“We had such fun together, creating something in this funny little market,” he said. “Something very, very beautiful together.”
From Bolgheri to Lodovico
Passing the baton: Marchese Lodovico Antinori and daughter Sophia
The Antinori name may be synonymous with one of Italy’s great wine dynasties, but the story of brothers Piero and Lodovico has never been quite as straightforward. When their father Niccolò stepped back from the family business, Piero took the reins at Marchesi Antinori while Lodovico chose independence, selling his share in 1980 and setting out on his own.
What followed was one of Italian wine’s great sibling stories. As Piero strengthened the family empire and the reputation of Tignanello, Lodovico headed west to Bolgheri and created Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, home to Ornellaia and Masseto, wines that would themselves become modern Italian icons.
Their paths remained separate for more than two decades, until the sale of Ornellaia in 2002 ultimately opened the door to a new chapter. Lodovico moved on from Ornellaia and Masseto, but kept something in his back pocket: a wonderful plot of land not so far away. That eventually became Biserno and, ultimately, Lodovico. It was at Tenuta di Biserno, however, that longside their sister Ilaria, the brothers came together as partners for the first time.
“It’s been a wonderful journey,” said the Marchese as he looked around the room. “For those of you who know the wine, I hope you’ll be in for fantastic joy. For those who don’t, even more so.”
“We are the Saint-Émilion of Tuscany.”
And so began our own journey through Lodovico, travelling backwards from the 2021 vintage to the inaugural 2007.
With around 10 Michelin stars represented in the room, the Marchese was clearly interested in hearing what people thought. With every course came another pairing of wines, and his attention moved around the table from sommelier to sommelier – and occasionally to yours truly – asking for thoughts and opinions.
These Cabernet Franc-dominated wines showed just how clearly vintage can speak through Lodovico. The 2021 was focused, leaner and tighter, reflecting the cooler conditions. The 2020 was more floral and fruit-forward, softer and more immediately generous on the palate.
The discussion turned to how Lodovico had, once again, been ahead of his time. With temperatures already beginning to rise in the early 2000s, he believed Cabernet Franc more than Merlot could flourish on this special site close to the Tuscan coast. Today, that decision looks increasingly prescient.
“Cabernet Franc has a finesse,” the Marchese said. “We are the Saint-Émilion of Tuscany.”
And as the older bottles demonstrated throughout lunch, the wines can age beautifully while, in the right vintage, remaining remarkably approachable in their youth.
A bottle of Ornellaia 1987
“In Italy, nobody keeps the older vintages. It is always about drinking the latest one,” – Marchese Lodovico Antinori
Then the Marchese held court.
“One day I was alone in my house in Tuscany and I became a little nostalgic. I wanted to try an Ornellaia.”
He went down to his cellar looking for a bottle of 1997.
“I went upstairs with the light and saw it wasn’t 1997. It had the grey label, not the red label. I looked again and saw it was 1987.”
His first thought was to take it back.
“I thought it wouldn’t be good enough. But I was already there and I got lazy, so I said, ‘Let’s open it.’”
The first surprise was the cork.
“It was amazing. There was no wine up the side of the cork. Perfectly preserved after all those years.”
Then came the colour: still dark, still intense.
“And I said, ‘Let’s taste it. You never know.’”
He smiled.
“It was like a baby. 1987.”
It was a wonderful reminder that even for someone who has spent a lifetime creating some of Italy’s most iconic wines, these little time capsules can still surprise, transport and bring enormous pleasure.
After telling the story, the Marchese looked towards Sophia. They smiled at each other and, for a moment, shared something that perhaps only a father and daughter can. It felt like a glance backwards at everything that had come before, but also towards his hopes for Lodovico and what comes next.
Keeping history alive
The Marchese was particularly thankful to Corney & Barrow for something that, he joked, simply doesn’t happen enough in Italy: keeping old vintages.
“In Italy, nobody keeps the older vintages. It is always about drinking the latest one,” he laughed. “‘Why are you showing this vintage? Do you have too much in the cellar?’ That is the Italian mindset.”
“But when I come here, Adam opens these wines. The 2007 – I might have six or seven bottles, but they always keep stock. Incredible.”
That ability to revisit the wines matters because it allows us to see not simply how Lodovico has evolved, but how the ideas behind it have stood the test of time.
“Stay here”
Tchelistcheff urged Lodovico not to leave Bolgheri – he believed deeply in the potential of this corner of Tuscany.
Another important figure in Lodovico Antinori’s story was the legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff.
The Marchese spoke warmly about their relationship, the style of wines Tchelistcheff made and the influence he had on his own thinking. Even now, in the elegance and longevity of these older vintages, you can sense some of that philosophy.
But perhaps Tchelistcheff's most important advice to Lodovico was also his simplest. He urged him not to leave Bolgheri. He believed deeply in the potential of this corner of Tuscany. “Stay here,” he told him. Lucky for us, Lodovico listened.
From Ornellaia and Masseto to Biserno and Lodovico, his career has helped shape the modern story of fine Tuscan wine. Now, alongside Sophia, there is one more chapter being written: Tenuta del Nicchio.
For a lunch that spent so much time looking backwards, perhaps the most exciting part was that it didn't really feel like an ending at all.
It felt like a handover.
The Lodovico wines are imported and sold in the UK through Corney&Barrow which is a commercial partner of The Buyer. To discover more about them click here.
