(Chron) - Piero Antinori is exactly what Americans think a marchese should be. The patriarch of one of the world's most renowned wine families exudes charm, elegance and refinement. Antinori's ancestors were confidants of the Medicis. It was through the intercession of Lorenzo the Magnificent that the Antinoris purchased and completed the construction of their grand palazzo in the heart of Florence - less than 20 years after Christopher Columbus set sail into the unknown. By any measure, Piero Antinori has done great things for both his country and the product he sells. But none of that seemed evident during a recent breakfast conversation in Houston.