Santa Cristina: A Continuous Wine Journey
By Cody Durbin
Photo by Isabela Elizondo
While 70 years have almost past since the first vintage of Santa Cristina, which was created by Niccolò Antinori of the Antinori wine family here in Tuscany, the winery has been on a yearly mission to become better each year on selection and quality. Santa Cristina’s role in the Antinori group is an interesting one. The first red wines created by Niccolò Antinori were always a part of the Antinori lineup. In 2006, it was decided that the wines would be expanded and rebranded into a unique collection with their own identity strong enough to hold on their own within the parent Antinori group. At our meeting on Friday with representatives Alessia Lana and Jacopo Chianni, we had a first-hand experience of understanding the mission of the company and to understand the true terroir of Tuscany.
Santa Cristina’s site is located in Cortona, a town in northeastern Tuscany close to the Umbria border. In order to learn about the brand’s origins, we went to the headquarters of the Antinori parent group in Bargino, just outside of Florence in the Chianti Classico wine territory, where the company has recently completed an extensive wine complex. When we first arrived to the new facility, we all were very impressed with the sleek look that the new facility has taken on as well as the environmental efforts of the architectural design. The winery is designed to become part of the natural landscape, instead of taking from it. The facility was literally dug into the side of a hill to become a part of the natural scenery. Some of the high points of the facility are a dramatic staircase with visual similarities to Leonardo da Vinci’s gyro-copter, historic wine artifacts, a museum of the family’s art collection including contemporary art, the Rinuccio bistro where we completed our wine tasting, and a wine shop featuring the complete line of Antinori wine brands from Italy, the US, and Chile.
While Santa Cristina has become a leader in both quality and innovation in this industry, the company has also been on a path of truly understanding the potential of what Tuscany’s terroir has to offer. I asked our wine instructor and sommelier for our JBF event, Massimo Coppetti, “What is the biggest part of a continuous success of a winery in this industry?” He said, “Understanding your terroir and what your specific area’s limitations are but also what are your land’s true highlights are and to find varietals that work with those highlights and to complement them.” The wines featured at our JBF events are true climaxes of the Santa Cristina name and will assist with the event’s success through each pairing. Alessia and Jacopo gave an informative presentation on approaches that will allow us to inform our JBF diners. In particular, they shared that “Santa Cristina is like a young guy, between 25 to 35 years old. He is savvy, both in technology and style, understands himself, and is on a mission to find a place for himself.” Savvy is definitely seen in details such as the company’s social media efforts, or the online cookbook created with none other than Apicius. I want to thank the Santa Cristina company for extending their hospitality and their broad knowledge on the wines, which we are excited to present in NYC!
We will present the following Santa Cristina wines at the JBF events:
Pinot Grigio D.O.C. – Santa Cristina Toscana I.G.T. – Santa Cristina Umbria I.G.T. – Vin Santo della Valdichiana D.O.C.