Sassicaia and Ornellaia launched their new vintages last week – here’s our expert opinion

Last week, Ornellaia and Sassicaia – two of Italy’s gold-standard red wines – launched their newly bottled 2023 flagships.

Both wines are situated on the Tuscan coast, in a winemaking zone known as Bolgheri – a comparatively new wine region, established as a DOC in 1994, and known for its red wines made from ‘international’ varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

For decades this duo have been Italy’s shining stars on the international wine market, gaining a foothold at a time when Bordeaux dominated the fine wine scene.

Two wines, two styles

While Ornellaia in the past plied a trade in muscularity – perfectly combining the classic structure of Bordeaux with the generous fruit made possible by the Tuscan summers – recent vintages have revealed a more sensitive side to its repertoire, with less focus on power and more attention paid to achieving harmony and balance.

It’s the result of extensive trials in the vineyard, and meticulous attention to detail in the cellar.

Ornellaia 2023 is composed of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. Technical director Marco Balsimelli notes that the quality of the estate’s Cabernet Franc vines is currently superb, and he envisages using more in the blend in the future – but not at the expense of Merlot.

Sassicaia is renowned for its freshness and lightness of touch, which derives partly from its historic lofty hillside vineyards surrounded by cooling woodland.

Vinified for private consumption by the family since the 1940s, the Tenuta San Guido estate refused to change Sassicaia’s stylistic direction even when it fell out of vogue in the 1990s in favour of bigger, brasher wines.

Since head of winemaking Carlo Paoli joined in 2009, Sassicaia has taken another step forward. The Sassicaia 2023 is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Cabernet Franc.

Are the 2023s buyable?

These 2023s are impressive in their early drinkability. Neither wine is a blockbuster in the classic sense – but neither should they need to be; if you want that, there are many other wines around the world (as well as a few from Bolgheri).

What these 2023s offer is a lovely combination of finesse, precision and aromatic appeal, capturing all the energy and vitality of this beautiful coastal location. They’re perfect for the ‘modern’ drinker who prizes freshness and balance over power and extraction.

The beauty of the vintage transparency these wines offer is that each year is notably different, so you really can pick and choose depending on your personal tastes: the 2022s from Ornellaia and Sassicaia are more compact and deeper in fruit; the 2021s more fleshy and similarly aromatic; the 2020s more structured; and the 2019s silkier.

2023 first taste: Bolgheri’s superstars

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