Ornellaia (375ML half-bottle) 2020
-
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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 do 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. Barrel Sample: 95-97
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Ornellaia is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, raised in 70% new French oak for 18 months, with another 12 months in bottle prior to release. Flush with herbs and menthol, blackberry, and cedar, it is full bodied and fills the sides of the mouth with rounded fruit of luxurious plum, black cherry, and toast, with supple and velvety tannins. Drink 2026-2046.
-
Decanter
Estate director Axel Heinz called 2020 ‘a classic Ornellaia,’ and picked the theme of ‘La Proporzione‘ (proportion) to describe its character. Indeed, the blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot marks a return to a more typical blend following the pendulum swings of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon in 2019, and 51% Merlot in 2018. Fine-grained and beautifully textured, its finely integrated tannins support a concentration of black fruits lightened by red berries. Aromas of black cherry, liquorice, dark chocolate, cedar and damp earth make for a fragrant wine, accompanied by menthol and balsamic streaks which run through the wine and impart plenty of freshness. It finishes with a stony and salty element along with some chocolatey and woody hints. Tight and moreish, its ripeness of fruit combined with freshness and structure adeptly tells the story of this earlier-ripening vintage. It lacks complexity in the mouth – this will come with time – but the array of aromas gives a hint of what is to come.
-
Wine Spectator
Inviting aromas of blackberry, black currant, anise, cedar, vanilla and tobacco draw you in to this red, which is sleek and open on the palate. This is so well-balanced, it's approachable now, yet there's a bit of reserve too. The fruit flavors are prominent on the finish, along with mineral and spice notes, while the lasting impression is a salty, flinty element. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2026 through 2045.
Other Vintages
2019- Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
- Vinous
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
- Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
- Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
In 1981, Marchese Lodovico Antinori breathed new life into Tenuta dell' Ornellaia, an estate whose potential had been ignored for decades. With the help of Andre Tchelistcheff, the famous agronomist, Antinori planted the first French vines in Bolgheri, which lies in the heart of Tuscany's coastal region, Maremma. The estate yields some of the finest Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc in Tuscany. In 2002, Marchesi de' Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi became owners of Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, which is now owned exclusively by Marchesi de' Frescobaldi.
Ornellaia has established itself among the iconic wine estates in Italy (and beyond). The estate is dedicated to producing charming and opulent wines, full of Mediterranean character and finesse, reflecting the estate’s unique terroir in Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast. The combination of Bolgheri’s unique soils and growing conditions, and what can only be characterized as a total obsession with excellence, result in the world-class wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc that so many wine lovers across the world have come to cherish.
Ornellaia employs a full time team of 80 people whose passion and motivation make Ornellaia what it is today. No shortcuts in the part of the production are allowed and the details literally come down to a grape by grape basis. Wines are intently crafted to capture the character of each vintage, in all its complexity and facets. In fact, the character and intricacies of each individual vintage are so important to the estate that since vintage 2006, Winemaker and Estate Director Axel Heinz has identified a single word that captures the character of each vintage, and that word is interpreted by a contemporary artist who produces special labels and a site-specific work of art that remains part of the estate’s permanent collection.
In addition to its place among Italy’s iconic wines, Ornellaia is also an ambassador for the Bolgheri region, leading it to be recognized as one of Italy’s greatest winegrowing regions. It is their belief, and it is hard to argue, that Bogheri’s mild maritime climate and diversity of soils create wines as distinct, complex and pleasurable as any in the world.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.