How Antinori is putting Puglia on the fine wine map with Cabernet Franc

Antinori is attempting to prove that Puglia can produce truly fine red wines with a £215 varietal Cabernet Franc, and while the new wine is outstanding, db is surprised by its name.

Called Arso, the brand does sound rather like a word in the English language that doesn’t need writing out here… but, in my view, it also lacks a pretty Italian-sounding appeal. That is not a criticism one could level at Antinori’s most famous fine wine brand, Tignanello – which this newcomer is priced above – although you could say that ‘Arso’ is easier to say and remember than Tignanello, which is often abbreviated to just ‘Tig’. So why was the name Arso chosen? Meaning ‘burnt’, the brand was inspired by the practice of burning stubble in this part of Puglia, which, when Antinori chief enologist and CEO, Renzo Cotarella smelt, and then saw the resulting charred land, decided to call his priciest wine from the area ‘Arso’. More important than the name is the nature of the wine – which is delicious – and its aim, which is to show that Puglia can compete with Bolgheri and Bordeaux as a source of high-end, age-worthy reds based on Cabernet grapes. Priced at £215, it is £75 more than Tignanello, which retails for around £150, meaning that Antinori is making a bold statement with Arso in terms of its price, particularly relative to Puglian wines, which tend to be keenly priced, if not bargains. Indeed, Victoria Moore in The Telegraph