The 2020 Ornellaia is a gorgeous, elegant wine. Seamless and wonderfully deep on the palate, the 2020 is super-refined from the outset. Even with all of its depth, the 2020 retains terrific freshness and cut to play off its soft, succulent fruit. Overall, the 2020 looks to be a relatively accessible Ornellaia that will drink well with minimal cellaring. I especially admire the precision and understated finesse here. Aug 2023

Rich plum in colour, this has heady fruit-filled aromatics, where you are taken straight to the heart of the action. Plenty of classic balsamic notes of Ornellaia, along with oange zest, fennel, damson, black cherry, damson. Juice runs through the muscular frame, with tannins that are plentiful but supple, and freshly cut herbs studded throughout draw out the flavours. A long harvest from end of August to beginning October. 70% new oak, with the blend taking place after 12 months ageing, then left for a further six months in barrel, and 12 months in bottle before release. Axel Heinz's final full vintage at the property, and it's a stormer. The pandemic vintage also, with a dramatic start in Italy, but as with all wine estates, the upside was the focus on the vineyards, with the whole team in place throughout the growing season.

Ornellaia 2020 shows an outstanding balance between suppleness and structure. Each grape variety and individual block were vinified separately in stainless steel and concrete tanks, followed by maceration for about 15 days, for a total time in the vat of about three weeks. The malolactic fermentation took place mainly in oak barrels, 70% new and 30% used once. After the first 12 months of maturation in barriques, the wine was assembled and then returned to the barriques for an additional six months. Purple in the glass and concentrated yet very restrained, dark cassis emerges above leafy kiwi peel and citrussy hints. There's some lightness on the palate, with velvety tannins and a savoury yet youthful character. The finish is lively, super-fresh and grainy, and the alcohol is integrated well. Graphite and ‘Early morning’ pipe tobacco enhance the aftertaste.

Pouring a regal red color, the 2020 Ornellaia is sunny and inviting, with lush aromas of sweet fruits, including raspberry coulis, black cherry, dark mineral earth, cedar, and licorice candy. Expansive through the palate, it offers fabulous and polished tannins, a plush and velvety texture, and structure that’s well-balanced throughout. A mouthwatering touch of black tea on the finish rounds out this wine nicely, and it will do well to cellar. Drink 2025-2046. 2023 saw the departure of longtime winemaker and estate director Axel Heinz, as well as winemaker Olga Fusari. Ms. Fusari has moved on to lead the team as winemaker over at Ruffino, while Axel has returned to his home of Bordeaux, where he is now the CEO of Château Lascombes. Marco Balsimelli has officially taken over the reins for Axel as of this month (January 2024). Founded in 1981 by Marchesi Lodovico Antinori, since 2005 the ownership of Ornellaia has been entirely with the Frescobaldi family of wine estates. Famed oenologist Michel Rolland has been an instrumental consultant since 1991 and remains so to this day. In the winery, they work entirely with medium toast French oak, hoping not to impact the aromatic profile of the wines too much. The Serre Nuove delle Ornellaia, which was established in 1997, originally served as an outlet for the younger vines of the estate, but today it has evolved, with its own full expression and style, as a wine to drink more immediately than the flagship label. At this year's tasting, I was especially impressed with the 2021 release of this cuvée, and I’m hoping it’s an indication of great things to come from the 2021 flagship label next year.

Black bramble fruit on the nose, heady, expressive, forward and open. Aromatic and inviting - on the riper, jammy side. Lithe and supple, this has an energy and weight giving plush tannins but with an austere, mineral grip. A curious combination but one that serves to give a round, interesting mouthful with both balsamic black and sweet blue fruits with touches of wet stone, cola and liquorice. Dark and brooding, a little sombre right now, clearly powerful with concentration and you can tell it's been well worked - feels controlled but still quite tense and constricted. The overall texture is sublime and I do love the dark sticky liquorice and bitter orange zest but this isn't quite giving the wow factor. Nice layering, linear and pure, tannins a touch dry on the finish. Refined and austere. Has a touch of ripe jamminess that detracts a little from the charming elegance you know this wine can have. 5% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2046
Tasted by: Georgina Hindle (at Bordeaux, 08 Feb 2023)
Part of Place de Bordeaux March 2023 releases: from 100-point Napa to Italian gems

Pouring a regal red color, the 2020 Ornellaia is sunny and inviting, with lush aromas of sweet fruits, including raspberry coulis, black cherry, dark mineral earth, cedar, and licorice candy. Expansive through the palate, it offers fabulous and polished tannins, a plush and velvety texture, and structure that’s well-balanced throughout. A mouthwatering touch of black tea on the finish rounds out this wine nicely, and it will do well to cellar. Drink 2025-2046. AF Jan 2024

Tasted from barrel, the 2020 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia will be presented in the fall but won’t hit the market until spring of the following year. This is a beauty, so generous and opulent with fully seamless transitions. The wine’s traditional blend is mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with tiny percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, although this warm vintage makes due with a pinch less of the Cabernet Sauvignon. Fruit is selected across 107 hectares of Ornellaia vines, although the estate recently purchased an additional eight hectares next to Guado al Tasso in Castagneto Carducci, with terraces and vines aged between 15 and 28 years old. This broad and generous expression has a beautiful quality of fruit and oak that speaks to the very best of Italian winemaking.

The 2020 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with small percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It opens to an impenetrable, full-bodied approach with dark fruit, pencil shaving, toasted oak, Spanish cedar, campfire ash and iron ore. For sure, this is an especially concentrated and oak-driven vintage of this iconic wine. It absolutely requires more aging time. It feels quite tight and firm in its youth. The concentration is abundant.The 2020 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with small percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It opens to an impenetrable, full-bodied approach with dark fruit, pencil shaving, toasted oak, Spanish cedar, campfire ash and iron ore. For sure, this is an especially concentrated and oak-driven vintage of this iconic wine. It absolutely requires more aging time. It feels quite tight and firm in its youth. The concentration is abundant. ML

Full bottle 1,327 g. This year's release is known as La Proporzione. Blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot from a year in which cold and rain alternated with extended hot and dry periods but temperatures fell towards harvest, which was welcome. Aged in 70% new barriques for about 18 months.
Deep, lustrous crimson. Very sumptuous nose followed up by a hedonistic palate that finishes especially fresh. Ripe but not too-ripe fruit – a drier (much less sweet) vintage than usual which should age well. Unusually, there is some vestige of tannin on the finish. It's certainly possible to drink now if it's aerated before serving but ideally, I'd keep this awhile. Savoury persistence. Drink 2024 - 2038
JR - Tasted Feb 202