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Antinori's Cont'Ugo is a single-varietal Merlot from the Guado al Tasso estate in Bolgheri. Ripe dark cherry, plum and Mediterranean scrub sit over velvety, refined tannins: a plush, food-friendly Tuscan coastal red for steak and lamb.
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Antinori's single-varietal Merlot from Tenuta Guado al Tasso, grown on alluvial clay-loam at 45 to 60 metres near the Tuscan coast. Expect ripe dark fruit, Mediterranean scrub and licorice root over a velvety, refined tannic frame.
Cont'Ugo is intensely ruby in the glass. It leads with ripe red and dark fruit: dark cherry, plum and wild blackberry. The Mediterranean scrub lifts them, and so does a savoury thread of peat moss and licorice root that Antinori calls out on the 2023. A touch of vanilla from small oak barrels sits behind the fruit.
Blackberry
Blackcurrant
Blueberry
Cherry
Plum
Raspberry
Forest Floor
Liquorice
VanillaThis is full-bodied, grown on the alluvial clay-loam of Guado al Tasso. It has the velvety, refined tannic texture the estate aims for. Twenty days on skins in steel and twelve months in small second-fill oak barrels give weight without heavy oak. Merlot's plush dark fruit carries good persistence.
The close is long and savoury. Balsamic and licorice notes trail the dark fruit rather than oak.
This is a single-varietal Merlot that reads Bolgheri in a plush, accessible style, and drinkers like it, vintage after vintage, for its balance and value. It belongs with beef, lamb and game. Drink the 2023 now. Give the 2024 a year.
Three UK merchants currently stock the 2023 and 2024 around £47 to £48 a bottle. Cont'Ugo sits below Antinori's flagship Bolgheri Superiore, offering Guado al Tasso pedigree at a fraction of the price.
75cl · 2018: £69.00, 1 UK retailer
75cl · 2022: £45.99, 1 UK retailer
75cl · 2024: £49.00 - £51.00, 4 UK retailers
An approachable, food-first Bolgheri Merlot: high on the table, fair rather than cheap at about £47, and built for medium-term keeping rather than the long haul.
Medium-full Bolgheri Merlot with velvety tannin and bright dark fruit; it belongs with beef, lamb, game and pasta. Very high table use.
Marchesi Antinori pedigree and Guado al Tasso estate provenance at a premium price make it a confident gift and dinner-party red.
Merlot is soft, plush and internationally familiar, easy for newcomers; the premium price and DOC structure, plus a non-indigenous grape, hold it back from the top band.
Bolgheri DOC Rosso, not Superiore: twelve months in second-fill barriques and 14% give medium-term ageing to roughly 2032-2033, not a decades-long hold.
At about £47 it sits above the typical £25-40 Bolgheri DOC Rosso band (price_aggregate empty, so benchmark is editorial); brand-justified but not a bargain.
Inverse of its cellar build plus a price penalty above £20; at about £47 Cont'Ugo is a treat bottle rather than a midweek pour.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Bolgheri denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
The 2024 came from a cool, wet spring and a warm, dry summer, with Merlot hand-picked 31 August to 10 September; the 2023 shows ripe red fruit and refined tannin in Antinori's own notes.
A warm, dry Bolgheri summer followed a cool, wet spring; per Antinori the Merlot was hand-picked 31 August to 10 September with good sugar-acid balance. Aged twelve months in second-fill barriques and bottled December 2025, it is built for medium-term cellaring.
Antinori describes the 2023 Cont'Ugo as intensely ruby with ripe small red fruit, Mediterranean scrub and licorice-root depth, carried by excellent structure and a velvety, refined tannic texture. Drinking well now with several years of cellar life ahead.
A warm, dry Bolgheri summer followed a cool, wet spring; per Antinori the Merlot was hand-picked 31 August to 10 September with good sugar-acid balance. Aged twelve months in second-fill barriques and bottled December 2025, it is built for medium-term cellaring.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Made entirely from Merlot on Antinori's 320-hectare Bolgheri estate, vinified in steel and finished twelve months in second-fill barriques. Bolgheri DOC dates only to the mid-1990s yet ranks among Italy's most coveted coastal appellations.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Bolgheri is in the DOC tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Bolgheri falls within Tuscany, covering Livorno.
Wine route
1-2 days · 4 stops
Open the driveProducer: Marchesi Antinori, Firenze.
Wine route in the zone: Strada del Vino Costa degli Etruschi.
Cont'Ugo carries the Antinori name and Guado al Tasso estate provenance, the single biggest premium over a generic Bolgheri Merlot at its roughly £47 UK shelf price.
Fruit is estate-grown on alluvial clay-loam at 45 to 60 m in Bolgheri, hand-harvested and cellar-selected, which lifts growing and picking cost versus machine-harvested fruit.
Malolactic and twelve months ageing in second-fill barriques tie up barrel stock and cellar space for over a year before release, a cost the price carries.
Cont'Ugo is bottled as straight Bolgheri DOC, so it avoids the longer ageing and scarcity premium of Antinori's Superiore wines that sell for several times more.
UK excise of £2.67 a bottle plus 20% VAT account for roughly £10 of the £47 shelf price before the retailer takes any margin.
Using second-fill barriques rather than new barrels lowers the per-bottle barrel cost compared with Antinori's top cuvees.
Dishes that go with this wine
Velvety tannin and 14% structure make Cont'Ugo a natural with bistecca alla fiorentina, lamb ragu and aged pecorino. Beef, lamb and game are where it belongs.
Cont'Ugo's full body and velvety Merlot tannin match the char and rendered fat of Tuscan grilled beef and slow lamb ragu. Weight meets weight, and the wine's coastal freshness keeps the plate lively.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Agnello Ragu Lucano · Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · More pairings →
The refined, velvety tannins soften against protein and rendered fat, so a ribeye or rack of lamb rounds the wine out rather than fighting it. The 14% structure stands up to a seared crust.
Try with: Ribeye steak · Fillet steak · Rack of lamb · Lamb shank · More pairings →
Dark-fruit depth and fresh acidity cut through roast fat and pastry. Beef wellington is the classic match for Cont'Ugo, a plush coastal Merlot whose velvety tannin meets the pastry and the pink beef halfway.
Try with: Sunday Roast Beef · Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce · Venison Stew · Beef wellington · More pairings →
The wine's Mediterranean scrub, balsamic lift and licorice-root notes bridge to rosemary, thyme and garlic on roast lamb, echoing the herb garden rather than masking it.
Try with: Rack of lamb · Leg of lamb · Lamb chops · More pairings →
Ripe dark fruit and a balsamic edge balance the salt and fat of aged sheep's-milk cheese, while the velvety tannin keeps the finish clean after a rich bite.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Cheese board
High capsaicin heat amplifies the 14% alcohol and dries the tannin, so the wine reads hot and bitter against fierce chilli dishes. Save Cont'Ugo for savoury roast and grilled plates instead.
Skip with: Szechuan beef · Crispy chilli beef · Lamb bhuna · Pairing guide →
A medium-term Merlot rather than a decades-long Superiore. The 2023 drinks well now to about 2032, the 2024 from 2026; second-fill barrique ageing keeps the oak in support, not in front.
Peak around 2027. For the main offer above.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.
Bolgheri DOC Rosso, not Superiore: twelve months in second-fill barriques and 14% give medium-term ageing to roughly 2032-2033, not a decades-long hold.
£44.46 for a 75cl bottle of the 2023, at 8wines, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Last refresh: 6 Nov 2026, 04:35 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from published drinker ratings, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, from how this wine is made, the rules of its appellation, UK duty and VAT and the price shops charge for it today. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumThe drinking years for the main offer apply to its 2023 vintage. Treat them as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumCont'Ugo is 100% Merlot, grown on Antinori's Tenuta Guado al Tasso estate in Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast. It is a single-varietal reading of Bolgheri, a DOC otherwise known for Cabernet-led blends.
Intensely ruby with ripe dark cherry, plum and blackberry, Mediterranean scrub, licorice root and a touch of vanilla. The palate is full-bodied with velvety, refined tannins and good persistence.
No. Cont'Ugo is bottled as straight Bolgheri DOC Rosso, a step below Antinori's Bolgheri Superiore wines. It is built for medium-term drinking rather than long cellaring, which is reflected in its lower price.
Its velvety tannin and 14% structure suit bistecca alla fiorentina, lamb ragu, roast lamb and aged pecorino. Beef, lamb and game are its natural company.
The 2023 drinks well now and should hold to around 2032; the 2024, bottled in December 2025, shows best from 2026. Twelve months in second-fill barriques give gentle structure rather than heavy oak.
Recent UK listings price the 2023 and 2024 vintages at roughly £47 to £48 a bottle across three merchants, offering Guado al Tasso pedigree well below the price of Antinori's flagship Bolgheri Superiore.
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How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
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