A taste of Bolgheri: Ornellaia wine 1990-2016

A single long road called the Viale dei Cipressi, named after the cypress trees which flank it on either side, signals your arrival in Bolgheri. The region’s vineyards grow just three miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea and are sheltered by a large forrested hillside area called the ‘Magona’. The refreshing influence of sea breezes, allied with night and day temperature variations provided by the forest, allow Bordeaux varieties to ripen over a long growing season here, achieving depth and complexity.

Everything at Tenuta dell’Ornellaia seems to be done with the aim of creating wines for the long-haul. A history of passion and intuition at this estate has turned out two of the most important Italian labels: Ornellaia and Masseto.The latter has today become a single estate of 7ha, with a new winery set to be inaugurated this coming April, while the former – along with Sassicaia – maintains a sturdy reputation as a super-premium Bordeaux blend produced from over 115ha in Bolgheri, Tuscany.

A brief history

When, in 1981, Lodovico Antinori founded the Ornellaia winery, the Bolgheri appellation didn’t exist – the DOC would not be approved until three years later. After a brief joint-venture with Mondavi, the estate is today under the control of Frescobaldi, one of the world’s oldest Italian winemaking families.

The first vineyards were planted in 1982 above the Bolgherese road, followed by the planting of vineyards on the recently acquired Bellaria property in the early ‘90s, on the northern side of the Viale dei Cipressi.

Ornellaia: Producer profile

Making Ornellaia

Ornellaia is a Margaux-style blend, even more so since 1999 with the addition of Petit Verdot. It traditionally has a dominant proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon (50-55%), with 25-30% of Merlot, 10-15% of Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot. In cool vintages, such as 2010, the Merlot component has been known to reach up to 40%, ‘the meat over the bones’ of the blend, as director Axel Heinz describes it.

The vineyard selections that make up the wine today include grapes from up to 100 different plots. The average vine density on the estate is around 6,500 vines per hectare. This average is exceeded in the Ginestraio plot, which produces Merlot rich in black fruit flavours and is harvested in the middle of September in warm vintages such as 2015. Vine density is lower in some plots, such as the Cabernet Sauvignon in Bellaria Alta, ‘the backbone of Ornellaia,’ according to Heinz.

In the cellar, each of the 100 or so plots are vinified separately with selected yeasts, a practice that dates back to 2005-2006. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks, although the use of the concrete is increasing. In fact, the new Masseto winery will be equipped only with concrete tanks.

All of the grapes are fermented below 25°C. Pumping over and délestage are carried out, avoiding punch downs in order to achieve as delicate a physical extraction as possible. Temperatures are raised up to 28°C during two weeks of maceration in order to polymerise the tannins, yet only 3-5% of press wines are used.

Malolactic fermentation is carried out on half of the wine in oak, and then the wine is matured for up to 20 months in French barriques, of which two-thirds are new.

Long-lived

The wine’s only limitation could be expressed as having too heavy an impression of tannin and oak when young. But Heinz counters, ‘We don’t regard this wine when it is young. We are constantly thinking about its potential to age, we want precise wines with a long shelf-life.’ He admits that some wines, particularly from the early 2000s, are on the verge of over-extraction, stating that, ‘From 2010, we became aware of excessive power in previous wines and worked hard to return to a greater balance.’ It perhaps explains why these were not represented at this tasting.

Without a doubt, Ornellaia is one of the greatest Italian wines, with an impressive ability to age. The latest 2016 vintage has an outstanding classic style that honours its past, while the 1998 vintage is definitely the best vintage of Ornellaia you can buy, exemplifying the potential of Bolgheri’s terroir.

Tasting Ornellaia:

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