For the third year in a row, Ornellaia has launched the new vintage of its flagship SuperTuscan via international livestream, broadcast from the winery in Bolgheri.
During the livestream, estate director, Axel Heinz described the 2020 as ‘a classic Ornellaia’. He also noted that, ‘for once, it was our only priority because we had nothing else to do,’ referring to the effects of several lockdowns that year.
The 2020 vintage
The end of March saw some frost, although the vine shoots escaped damage, unlike at Sassicaia.
Mid-June saw some excessively wet weather, but then it was dry and hot until the end of August. Cooling rains at the end of the month gave the Merlot time to fully ripen before picking, which took place in the first half of September.
A heat-spike shortly after all the Merlot was in led the team to begin picking the rest of the grapes to avoid high sugar levels – picking of the younger vines of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon commenced on 17 September.
Rainfall at the end of September normalised the temperature and brought the potential alcohol down to typical levels. The last grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot were picked on 3 October.
A generally earlier-ripening vintage along the lines of 2000 and 2012.
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Scroll down to see the tasting note & score for Ornellaia 2020
Ornellaia 2020: in the cellar
Each grape variety and plot were vinified separately, in a mixture of stainless steel and concrete tanks at temperatures between 26 and 30°C.
Maceration followed, lasting 15 days, before racking to oak barrels (70% new) for malolactic fermentation.
Maturation took place in French oak barriques for 12 months before blending, then a further six months once assembled. After bottling, the wine matured for an additional 12 months.
It was revealed during the launch that 2020’s theme is ‘La Proporzione’ (proportion). ‘In 2020,’ explained Axel, ‘all grape varieties expressed themselves very well…everybody felt that each grape could give a very important contribution’.
The blend in 2020 is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot – the biggest percentage of Cabernet Franc since 2016 and a return to a more typical blend following the pendulum swings of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon in 2019, and 51% Merlot in 2018.
Intense, ripe and concentrated, it has grainy tannins which are well integrated, and balancing balsamic freshness. Clearly youthful, it’s yet to develop full complexity in the mouth – this will come with time – but the array of aromas gives a hint of what is to come.
Developments
Towards the end of the live-stream, Axel admitted that he’s considering incorporating ‘southern varieties’ into Ornellaia to combat the effects of climate change. Not shy of change, he masterminded the inclusion of Cabernet Franc in stablemate Masseto last year for the first time.
The team are also experimenting with amphorae, although it is still early days and we are yet to see any results or any indication as to which wines might be involved.
Vendemmia d’Artista
Artist Joseph Kosuth was selected by Ornellaia’s art curators for this year’s Vendemmia d’Artista project.
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)
Ornellaia 2020 is the 15th edition of the Vendemmia d’Artista initiative, launched in 2006. For the last four years, the estate has been collaborating with the Guggenheim Museum in New York on the Mind’s Eye charity project for people with diminished or no vision.
Bottles and unique artworks designed by this year’s artist, chosen by Ornellaia’s art curators, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in September, with all proceeds going to the Mind’s Eye project, which is being rolled out to Guggenheim locations internationally.
The artist for Ornellaia 2020 is Josepth Kosuth from Toledo in Ohio. His label design features a language tree with translations of the word ‘wine’ in all the languages derived from Indo-European. Kosuth explained that he was inspired by the huge oak tree growing at Ornellaia’s Bellaria estate.
Another inspiration for the project was the Roman engineer, Vitruvius, whose work, ‘De Architectura’ is considered one of the most important books on symmetry and proportion. A quote is included on the label of Ornellaia 2020.
(Image credit: Credit Unknown)
This year’s Vendemmia d’Artista designs for Ornellaia 2020 feature a language tree for the word ‘wine’, designed by Joseph Kosuth.
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,...
James Button is Decanter’s regional editor for Italy, responsible for all of Decanter's Italian content in print and online.
Like many others, he started his wine career at Majestic Wine, giving him a strong grounding in the subject before successfully completing the WSET Level 4 Diploma in 2010. From 2014 to 2016 he managed the fine wine department of a startup wine company in London, before joining Decanter as digital sub-editor.
Outside of wine, James enjoys cooking, skiing, playing guitar and cycling.
