April 28, 2024 - Red big and fresh. Tio young to drink on its own yet. Fantastic with a seared skirt steak and mushrooms.
March 28, 2024 - Surprisingly good for the vintage - fruit, floral, nice, nice middle, long finish. Yeah, it was firing on all cylinders
February 3, 2024 - Vin très bien vinifié, plein de glycérine et d’arômes fruités.
Il a fallu le carafer pendant des heures pour l’amadouer.
Ce n’est plus vraiment mon type de vin surtout au niveau des prix actuels.
Pour les amateurs de « bordeaux blend » Bordeaux est repassé en tête, selon moi.
April 1, 2023 - Decanted briefly. Young and lush with very tart backbone that balances the thick, pulpy body. Stellar effort from young vines, very Italian this vintage. Curious to see how this ages but it's fun now.
May 8, 2022 - Complex layers of flavor with blackberries, mocha, cassis and leather with silky smooth tannins.
January 5, 2022 - Restaurant list from half bottle. Painfully young now but drinkable. Lush and intense. Long. Tannins quite fine but still no point opening in its youth.
November 13, 2021 - Old world, new world; old friends, new friends (sfwl's deck in warm and sunny Noe Valley): THIS TN IS FOR THE 2017 ORNELLAIA SOLARE; SEE NOTE AT BOTTOM. Brian's wonderful red contribution to wineapalooza; I know he opened it beforehand, but don't know for how long or if it was decanted, but it was definitely ready to go when we broke the seal. On the very vibrant nose and palate, sweet and savory black currants and cherries, blackberries, and plums; charred earth; ground spice; leather; minerality; dark florals; cinnamon, and tobacco. Deep purple, full-bodied, medium to full legs. Medium+ tannins and acidity which were partially integrated, but to the extent not, well balanced by fruit and secondary notes, no heat despite the 15% abv, but with that wonderful incandescence like the Dal Forno. Tremendous persistence, complexity and intensity. My first bottle of Ornellaia, and while youthful and energetic, it wasn't unharmonious in any way. Terrific Bordeaux style blend in which the CS gave complexity, the merlot roundness, the CF lift (I must confess I'm never sure exactly what I'm supposed to be tasting in a PV). As mentioned, shockingly good to go on the pour, but it deepened and became more expressive over the course of the afternoon, all the more so with the small pour left over--thank you so much, Brian, for leaving!--on night 2. The fruit is extraordinary, but unlike the Covert, the structure and savoriness really add profundity, which, while already impressive, seem certain to increase greatly over the coming years, nay, decades. Great with the charcuterie and on the second night, lasagna, but more than balanced and elegant enough to stand on its own. If I had one or 2 bottles, I'd hold or give them plenty of air, but if you're lucky enough to have a bunch, no reason not to find a special occasion--except for my fortunate CT friends for whom this kind of thing is a regular occasion quaff--and let it rip. Like the Tusk at the prior tasting, if this esteemed group of wines were to be reconvened in the future, this could well climb to the top of the medal stand, but no disgrace being just a bit behind the Favia and Dal Forno on this date. As a side note, this bottling is a bit of a mystery to me, as it has the same grapes in the same proportions as the "standard" Ornellaia, and for the 12 vintages of this wine, there are zero (yep, a big goose egg) TNs, so, at the risk of violating CT protocol, I'm copying this TN into the "standard" Ornellaia section (yeah, I also love attention). I note that some Solares have a particularly artistic label, but this one did not. 96-97+++
November 13, 2021 - Old world, new world; old friends, new friends (sfwl's deck in warm and sunny Noe Valley): Brian's wonderful red contribution to wineapalooza; I know he opened it beforehand, but don't know for how long or if it was decanted, but it was definitely ready to go when we broke the seal. On the very vibrant nose and palate, sweet and savory black currants and cherries, blackberries, and plums; charred earth; ground spice; leather; minerality; dark florals; cinnamon, and tobacco. Deep purple, full-bodied, medium to full legs. Medium+ tannins and acidity which were partially integrated, but to the extent not, well balanced by fruit and secondary notes, no heat despite the 15% abv, but with that wonderful incandescence like the Dal Forno. Tremendous persistence, complexity and intensity. My first bottle of Ornellaia, and while youthful and energetic, it wasn't unharmonious in any way. Terrific Bordeaux style blend in which the CS gave complexity, the merlot roundness, the CF lift (I must confess I'm never sure exactly what I'm supposed to be tasting in a PV). As mentioned, shockingly good to go on the pour, but it deepened and became more expressive over the course of the afternoon, all the more so with the small pour left over--thank you so much, Brian, for leaving!--on night 2. The fruit is extraordinary, but unlike the Covert, the structure and savoriness really add profundity, which, while already impressive, seem certain to increase greatly over the coming years, nay, decades. Great with the charcuterie and on the second night, lasagna, but more than balanced and elegant enough to stand on its own. If I had one or 2 bottles, I'd hold or give them plenty of air, but if you're lucky enough to have a bunch, no reason not to find a special occasion--except for my fortunate CT friends for whom this kind of thing is a regular occasion quaff--and let it rip. Like the Tusk at the prior tasting, if this esteemed group of wines were to be reconvened in the future, this could well climb to the top of the medal stand, but no disgrace being just a bit behind the Favia and Dal Forno on this date. As a side note, this bottling is a bit of a mystery to me, as it has the same grapes in the same proportions as the "standard" Ornellaia, and for the 12 vintages of this wine, there are zero (yep, a big goose egg) TNs, so, at the risk of violating CT protocol, I'm copying this TN into the "standard" Ornellaia section (yeah, I also love attention). I note that some Solares have a particularly artistic label, but this one did not. 96-97+++
August 21, 2021 - Aarhus: Lots of blackberry, cherry and mint. As expected extremely youthful and tough to drink - in other words much too young. A "very warm" and rich Bordeaux blend. Needs many years in cellar. 15% abv [AArhus Plan B]
July 31, 2021 - Opened 2 hours. Color is deep garnet. On the nose: Plum, cassis, leather, hint of cinnamon and some green vegetal notes. On the palate: Rich Plums, cinnamon, cassis and pomegranate. Tannins evident at the end. Silky mouthfeel.This is a very young sensuous wine. Needs time say 5+ years.