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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 94.3 pts. and median of 94 pts. in 214 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Bz21 on 1/27/2024 & rated 97 points: Fab!!! Elegant. Spicy. Winner. (850 views) | | | Tasted by heathenone@msn.com on 1/20/2024 & rated 95 points: In a perfect place, but likely age longer. Color is deep and clear. No bricking. Nose is quite complex and beautiful! Good density and mouthfeel. Fruit is vibrant and lingers on. Great with pasta at Spago in Bellagio. (692 views) | | | Tasted by Leidersdorff on 10/2/2023 & rated 95 points: Wow. Awesome. Still lots of tannnins and fruit left. Very powerful and typical tuscan. Can last 10-20 years still. I would wait minimum 5 years if I had more bottles left. (1327 views) | | | Tasted by Philip67 on 5/17/2023 & rated 95 points: Mmm this is good! Needs to be decanted, growing and opening after an hour. Generous sweet black fruits, christingle: burnt orange and cloves, accompanied by very pure menthol. Cigar, tobacco. Long, complex. Drinking now, will last for years. (1828 views) | | | Tasted by Chrysostomus on 2/10/2023 & rated 96 points: Dark red color, beautiful nose of dark cherries, forest floor, tobacco. Good mix of primary and tertiary notes on the palate. Well built structure, pressure, tension - black cherries. Lasting very long and you get what you expect: a great wine at its peak now and for a few more years... (2215 views) | | | Tasted by Fftjr on 2/4/2023 & rated 96 points: Spectacular. Perfectly balanced. Well blended. Very vibrant. Cherry and plum. Great finish. An excellent example! (1674 views) | | | Tasted by Rote Kappelle on 12/27/2022 & rated 96 points: If there was an ode to the simple pleasures of abusive drinking then this might be it; Ornellaia, horny liar, always gets you higher, etc.
I feel lucky to have had two bottles of this vintage in recent years and it fully justifies its place in the ranks of the great wines of the world.
You need to decant this and give it about 6-8 hours to breathe before you see the best it has to give. I found it actually hit its peak after being left overnight in the decanter (yes, I am a lazy swine). I suspect that the less enthusiastic reviews may come from bottles that have not been given enough time to breathe. Early on it is very tannic, dominated by forest floor and dried herb and black olive.
Once it has time to breathe up you get all of the secondary, savoury aspects mentioned but also this core of quite lovely, plush dark fruit, almost wine gum.
The intensity and length are exemplary and the tannins are very fine, albeit in great quantity and they are so beautifully ripe that they almost have a sweetness to them. As I slither into decrepitude, I seem to be moving more and more to wines with a lot of savoury and textural focus and ripe tannins become a thing of beauty for me.
This is food wine par excellence and it worked an absolute treat with Roast Beef Rib in a crust of dried thyme, salt, pepper and Juniper berries. Test cricket and Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain in the breaks made a near perfect day on 27 December.
This wine hasn't changed much since last time I had it (Christmas 2019) and I think it probably has many years left at this level, but it is in such a good place now that I see all the risks of cellaring as being on the downside and I don't see much reason to cellar further. If it were under screw cap, I would feel more confidence in holding, though I still would not see much point. (2675 views) | | | Tasted by Malarky997 on 11/5/2022 & rated 91 points: Almost bitter aftertaste (1621 views) | | | Tasted by Milos on 11/4/2022 & rated 94 points: Drank together with 2001 Altesino Alte d'Altesi at a long overdue lunch at Bymark. Deep garnet in colour. Dark red and black fruit, spice and tobacco complexity. Palate was balanced, tannins soft and well integrated. Long finish. This has years ahead of itself. I struggle to compare the two wines. The Ornellaia showed more complexity and depth in the end but the Altesi gave me more immediate pleasure and a more appropriate food accompaniment. (1134 views) | | | Tasted by fadincvaros on 11/1/2022 & rated 90 points: ancora super carico, grosso, 21 anni non ne hanno smorzato gli angoli, ne alleggerito il volume in bocca, sempre molto importante. Il naso tipico, grande prugna, boisé marcato, spezie. In bocca c’è la potenza, ma non l’eleganza. Un vino sicuramente ben fatto, ma non è il mio vino. (918 views) | | | Tasted by Benoit Hardy on 10/29/2022 & rated 96 points: Bright fruit on cassis and plum with spice, chocolate and leather. Intense and elegant at the same time.
Palate of magnificent intensity with a silky touch. The fruit is pure with earthy aromas and in the second wave flavors of sweet spices and tobacco. It's balanced with a longline acidity that stretches the juice and gives a lot of pleasure. The wine is tasty, just on its shelf of maturity. Great finish full of nobility, which opens gently to gain cocoa intensity over a superb length.
A great Bolgheri. (961 views) | | | Tasted by #1 or #2? on 3/22/2022 & rated 95 points: lots of sediment in the bottle, dark and still slightly opaque. stunning super tuscan nose of stewed fruit, plum, cassis, spice, v earthy. palate is more of the same… big, hearty, bold, fruity and savoury. sensory overload in the best way. acidic pop mid palate and healthy tannic grip on the long finish. outstanding. based on tonight’s performance, there’s still likely a year or two left at peak. (1919 views) | | | Tasted by Uncle Victor on 3/22/2022 & rated 95 points: Stewed plum, blackberry compote, cassis, with cherry blossom, leather, and chocolate.
Still signing with vibrant acidity though this brightness mutes within an hour, so would not overdo the decant. With time the deep dark fruit on the nose really dominates. Full bodied and tons of fruit on the palate, balanced with chewy earthy and leather notes. Delicious on its own, may be overpowered by a heavy meal. Drink now and over the next few years. Thanks again to #1or#2 for sharing this bottle with us. (1653 views) | | | Tasted by Mario17 on 12/16/2021 & rated 92 points: Un vin assez Bordelais, une certaine richesse, une texture et une matière intéressante, des tannins encore bien présents mais avec un beau touché soyeux, c’est encore assez jeune malgré les 20 ans, très bien mais ce n’est pas grand surtout compte tenu du millésime très qualitatif. 92-93
Very Bordeaux style wine, rich with a good texture, good structure, the tannins are still there but they have a nice silky feel, still very young despite the age, very good bottle but not great. 92-93 (2719 views) | | | Tasted by awaxenberg on 8/17/2021 & rated 94 points: Unbelievable drank at lillia in NYC (3317 views) | | | Tasted by Ralf Jung on 8/7/2021 & rated 91 points: Already clear signs of aging (2980 views) | | | Tasted by Cailles on 6/23/2021 & rated 93 points: Tasted double blind alongside the Solaia 2004. Both wines showed still rather young and will need more time to hit their peaks. The Solaia (94 pts) showed quite ripe with even some raisiny notes I don’t particularly like. Still, it slightly edged out the Ornellaia (93 pts) today as it was more open and slightly more complex. The Ornellaia however, showed more elegance and grace, a cooler, purer profile and should certainly reach a higher high once mature (easily in the 96-98 point range like the fantastic 1998).
TN: Medium expressive nose with a beautiful minerality, some tobacco and a hint of brett and mainly dark fruits. Not a super exciting nose. On the palate there is again this cool, fresh style with lots of minerality, herbs, tobacco and ripe but fresh dark fruits. A touch more fruit and sweetness would have been great but my impression is that it is a matter of time until this sweetness will be back. Medium complexity today but you could sense that there is more. The structure was fine with soft tannins and a well-integrated and rather high acidity. Medium+ length.
Decanting: Decanted for 3-4 hours. As it wasn’t me who decanted it I don’t know if more or less would have been better. (3161 views) | | | Tasted by Philip67 on 5/19/2021 & rated 94 points: I have oft remarked that I have never had a great Ornellaia - good to very good but never great. The 2001 comes very close to greatness and I think younger vintages will indeed hit that mark under Axel's guidance.
Very nice warm (14.5%) big and rich, fruitcake, leather and cedar on the first taste. It is way more developed than an equivalent Bordeaux, really quite tertiary - more developed than I had hoped for. Alongside the tertiary notes the wine displays full bodied plum and fruit of the forest. Good acidity and tannin, together still providing grip and back bone. An initial slight gloopiness (reminiscent of an extracted Aussie Shiraz) had reduced after an hour of air. Long and complex. Drink now as I fear the fruit will recede and what will be left behind will not be so attractive. (2709 views) | | | Tasted by Mchiarot on 3/20/2021 & rated 94 points: hit all the high notes for me. Beautifully integrated tannins, abundant dark fruit, structure and power. not over the hill at all. Should last 5 years more for sure. Perfect with bistecca alla fiorentina. (2640 views) | | | Tasted by salua on 2/4/2021 & rated 96 points: Wow...what a powerful wine. This is no where near its peak. Double decanted 4 hrs before dinner and it was still developing 2 hours later. Lovely dusty nose, bit closed but full of fruit. Quite a fair bit of tannins that actually increased as time went on. Its a fruit driven wine that gives, and gives and gives that has a lengthy full finish. Would drive through rich pasta dish or steak but did not overwhelm light dishes either. Given 01 was a wet year, the wine did not suffer from the vintage. Its a great wine that will benefit from at least another 5 yrs aging. A super, Super Tuscan. (2526 views) | | | Tasted by jmoon on 1/12/2021 & rated 96 points: Fantastic and great wine. Really came alive after an hour decant. Thrilling after 3 hours. Gorgeous lush fruit perfect tannin and acid. Beautiful expression of Tuscany at its best, better than any 01 Bordeaux but also confusingly reminiscent. (2968 views) | | | Tasted by mclanew on 12/29/2020 & rated 95 points: This wine keeps getting better with age. Popped and poured. The nose is just gorgeous and complex with black currant, tobacco, and leather. The palate is remarkably youthful at twenty years and the wine appears to be at early maturity. The palate shows layers of flavors of black fruit, tobacco and minerals rolling into a long finish. This will continue to improve. (2427 views) | | | Tasted by Paul-SA on 12/25/2020 & rated 95 points: Inky, metallic, fruit and herbs. Delicious (2171 views) | | | Tasted by wa2ofd on 12/19/2020: Uncorked for 2hrs but not decanted...tasted blind with group of 8. Initially there was funk on the nose which got better but never became pretty or delicate. Taste had youthful energy w/o any strong tannins. Lots of sentiment that should have been filtered. Overall just ok and certainly not distinguishable as Italian. (1992 views) | | | Tasted by Topper on 12/3/2020 & rated 96 points: So many notes on this wine. I have had it many times but this was my last, and best bottle.Just right now, and for the next ten years. Great wine making here. (2105 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Ornellaia & Masseto: 1995-2010 From Magnum (Jan 2017) (1/1/2017)
(Tenuta Dell'ornellaia Ornellaia Archivio Storico (magnum)) Subscribe to see review text. | By Michael Godel
WineAlign (6/12/2014)
(Ornellaia, Doc Bolgheri Superiore red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Steve Thurlow
WineAlign (12/26/2013)
(Ornellaia, Doc Bolgheri Superiore red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Julia Harding, MW
JancisRobinson.com (5/16/2013)
(Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Ornellaia: A Major Retrospective 1985-2006 (Dec 2009)
(Tenuta Dell'ornellaia Ornellaia (magnum)) Subscribe to see review text. | By Richard Hemming, MW
JancisRobinson.com (11/24/2008)
(Ornellaia Bolgheri Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Tenuta dell’Ornellaia: Ornellaia and Masseto 1997-2004 (Mar 2007)
(Tenuta Dell'ornellaia Ornellaia) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/21/2006)
(Ornellaia Bolgheri Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, November 2005
(Ornellaia (Bolgheri)) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (10/1/2005)
(Ornellaia Toscana Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (4/5/2005)
(Ornellaia Bolgheri Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Campbell Mattinson
The WINEFRONT (1/1/2005)
(Tenuta Dell’Ornellaia) Subscribe to see review text. | By Stephen Tanzer
Vinous, September/October 2004, IWC Issue #116
(Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Ornellaia) Subscribe to see review text. | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (4/5/2005)
(Ornellaia) Upon opening had a beautiful nose of pure ripe berry and cassis fruit. Layered and focused on the nose. A young pup. Tight and unyielding in the mouth. This was at 6:00 PM. As I sit here now a transformation has begun. The nose has sweet tobacco, earth, mineral, brambly blackberries and some cassis fruit. Very Bordeaux-like. The palate is focused and almost pointy with lush tannin-laced red fruits. Soft and very concentrated in the mouth with just so much baby fat fruit. Fine grainy-like tannins and a long finish. Clearly too young but a great Ornellaia with a nice future. If I had one complaint there was some heat that still has not gone away. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and WineAlign and JancisRobinson.com and Winedoctor and The WINEFRONT and Rockss and Fruit. (manage subscription channels) |
| Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Producer website
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)
Separate site for Masseto
Producer Location (Google Maps)Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore OrnellaiaLa tensione labelRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.OrnellaiaIn 1994 something significant happened for Ornellaia and many of the highest quality wines from Bolgheri in Tuscany. After years of laboring under the humble 'Vino da Tavola' label, these wines were granted a new and unprecedented DOC which not only permitted, but mandated non-traditional Italian grapes. From the 1994 vintage on, Ornellaia has used the DOC Bolgheri Rosso Superiore. [TermOrnellaia (Read more about Ornellaia classification on CellarTracker)].
On weinlagen-infoItaly Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorTuscany Tuscany (ItalianMade.com) | TuscanytBolgheri On weinlagen-infoBolgheri Superiore On weinlagen-info |
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