Tenuta di Biserno
Biserno is Lodovico Antinori's flagship Bordeaux blend from the Bibbona hills above Bolgheri: Cabernet Franc and Merlot led, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Cassis, blackberry and sweet spice frame silky tannins and a long, savoury finish.
Built from Cabernet Franc and Merlot grown above Bolgheri, Biserno layers cassis and blackberry over cocoa, tobacco and cracked pepper. Vivino's 8,000-plus drinkers settle on velvety tannins and a long, savoury finish.
Cassis and ripe blackberry lead, lifted by the violet and the balsamic, Mediterranean-herb edge the estate notes in young vintages. Underneath sit sweet spice, cracked black pepper and nutmeg, with cocoa and tobacco from 16 months in French barrique.
Coffee
Violet
Black cherry
Blackberry
Blackcurrant
Tobacco
Leather
Black pepper
ChocolateGenerous and enveloping, with the crisp dark fruit and faint smokiness Tenuta di Biserno describes on the palate. Cabernet Franc gives the savoury backbone and bright acidity; the tannins are silky and fine-grained, carried by the structure of a Bordeaux blend grown on Bibbona's gravels.
Long, harmonious and persistent, closing on cocoa, graphite and a savoury, salt-touched echo of the coast.
Biserno is the flagship of Lodovico Antinori's Bibbona estate, a Toscana IGT that critics rate 96 to 98 and Vivino's 8,000-plus drinkers score 4.5. The structured 2021 is one for the cellar; the 2012 is mature and giving. A wine for serious red-meat dinners and patient collectors.
Biserno trades around £100 to £145 a bottle here, with the structured 2021 and the now-mature 2012 both listed. Those prices track a wine critics rate 96 to 98 points.
A structured, age-worthy Bordeaux blend at over £100: Biserno scores high for cellaring, occasion and red-meat pairing, lower as an everyday pour.
A prestige Antinori-family flagship at £100-plus, exactly the bottle for a milestone dinner or a cellar gift.
Sixteen months in French barrique and a Bordeaux-blend backbone give a 15-year-plus cellar life; the 2021 holds into the late 2030s.
A structured, savoury Bordeaux blend with bright acidity and fine tannin, built for red meat and aged cheese.
Expensive in absolute terms at over £100, but strong quality-per-pound for a 96 to 98 point single-estate Super Tuscan.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our editorial methodology.
A compact view of what the Toscana denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
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The 2021 came from a cooler, balanced Bibbona season and is built for the cellar; the riper 2012, a Vivino Tuscan-Red award winner, is drinking at its plateau now.
A cooler, balanced 2021 on the Bibbona coast gave a precise, structured Biserno with firm but silky tannins and real freshness. Critics scored it 96 to 98; it is built for the cellar and only beginning to open.
The warm, dry 2012 season produced a riper, more generous Biserno with resolved, supple tannins. It won Vivino's 2020 Tuscan Red style award and rates 4.6 across 500-plus drinkers, drinking at its plateau now.
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.
Founded in 2001 by Lodovico Antinori, the man behind Ornellaia, Biserno is a single-estate Toscana IGT grown on the gravel and clay of the Bibbona hills above Bolgheri.
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.
Toscana is in the IGT tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Toscana falls within Tuscany , covering Tuscany.
Biserno is grown only on Tenuta di Biserno's own coastal vineyards above Bolgheri and picked by hand, a low-yield, labour-heavy model that sets a high floor under the roughly £135 2021.
Tannico's data shows 16 months in French barrique, 40% new wood, plus a year in bottle. New Bordeaux barriques and the long hold tie up cash and add real cost per bottle.
Founded in 2001 by Lodovico Antinori, creator of Ornellaia, Biserno carries Bolgheri-aristocracy demand that keeps both release and secondary prices firm.
Scores of 97 from Wine Advocate, 98 from Jeb Dunnuck and 97 from James Suckling for the 2021 pull collector demand and underpin the £100-plus shelf price.
As a Toscana IGT the wine carries no DOCG yield ceiling or mandatory release-tasting levy, so a sliver of the regulatory cost behind a Brunello is simply absent here.
UK still-wine duty of £2.67 a bottle plus 20% VAT adds well over £25 to the landed cost of a £135 listing before the retailer takes any margin.
Dishes that complement this wine
Firm tannins and bright acidity want fat and char. Biserno is built for Tuscan red meat, from bistecca to braised beef, and for hard, aged sheep's cheese.
Cabernet Franc's firm tannins need the fat and char of a rare T-bone. The protein softens the grip while the wine's bright acidity cuts the richness, the classic Tuscan-coast pairing.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Brasato al Barolo · Ribeye steak · More pairings →
The wine's full body and 16 months of barrique frame the richness of long-braised beef and veal. Weight meets weight, so neither the sauce nor the wine overwhelms the other.
Try with: Brasato al Barolo · Ossobuco alla Milanese · Beef stew · More pairings →
Bright acidity and a savoury, herb-edged profile cut through lamb fat and answer the meat's gaminess, while fine tannins keep each forkful fresh.
Try with: Rack of lamb · Lamb chops · Leg of lamb · More pairings →
The wine's cocoa, tobacco and sweet spice bridge to the salty, crystalline depth of aged pecorino, and the tannin resets the palate between bites.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · aged Parmigiano · mature hard cheese · More pairings →
Vivino drinkers reach for Biserno with cured meat. Its dark-fruit sweetness and acidity balance the salt and fat of finocchiona and prosciutto without losing structure.
Try with: finocchiona · prosciutto toscano · bresaola
At around 14.5 to 15% alcohol with firm tannins, Biserno amplifies chilli heat and turns harsh against sugary glazes. Fiery or sweet-sour Asian dishes flatten its detail.
Skip with: crispy chilli beef · sweet and sour pork · vindaloo · Pairing guide →
With 16 months in French barrique and a vintage record back to 2009, Biserno rewards a decade in bottle; the structured 2021 should hold into the late 2030s.
Peak around 2030. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
Sixteen months in French barrique and a Bordeaux-blend backbone give a 15-year-plus cellar life; the 2021 holds into the late 2030s.
£101.75 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
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Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, 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, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumBiserno is the flagship red of Tenuta di Biserno, the Bibbona estate on the Tuscan coast founded in 2001 by Lodovico Antinori, who earlier created Ornellaia. It is a Bordeaux-style blend classified Toscana Rosso IGT.
It is a Bordeaux blend led by Cabernet Franc and Merlot, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot in support. Vivino lists Cabernet Franc as the dominant variety, grown on the estate above Bolgheri.
Expect cassis, blackberry and dark cherry over cocoa, tobacco and cracked pepper, with silky tannins, bright acidity and a long, savoury finish. Vivino's 8,000-plus drinkers average 4.5 out of 5.
The structured 2021 is built for the cellar and will hold into the late 2030s, while the riper 2012 is mature and drinking at its plateau now. Biserno spends 16 months in French oak before release.
Pour it with Tuscan red meat: bistecca alla fiorentina, brasato, lamb ragu and aged pecorino. The firm Cabernet Franc tannins and acidity cut through fat and char.
Yes. As a Bordeaux blend made on the Tuscan coast outside the DOC system and bottled as Toscana IGT, Biserno sits squarely in the Super Tuscan tradition alongside its Bolgheri neighbours.
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