2020 Ornellaia Bianco, Tuscany, Italy
Critics reviews
The 2020 Ornellaia Bianco is bright, finely cut, dry white. Lime, white flowers, mint and white pepper are all beautifully delineated in this crisp white. I would give this at least a year or two in bottle, as the acids are pretty aggressive today, or several hours in a decanter, which will help soften the youthful edges.
There's quite a bit of news at Ornellaia and sister estate Masseto. Longtime Estate Manager Axel Heinz departed the wineries earlier this summer for his native Bordeaux, which opens a new chapter for both estates. “Two thousand-twenty was the last in a trio of vintages with more rain than usual and no drought, but quite a bit of heat during summer." Heinz explained. "Temperatures moderated in August, with the arrival of cool evenings. We picked quite a bit of Merlot early for the aromatics. Temperatures then rose markedly, leading to a week of rain, and then finally to good weather through to the end of harvest."
The 2020 wines strike me as quite aromatic in profile, with medium-bodied structures and a bit more restraint than is the norm. The 2021s, on the other hand, are more typical of Bolgheri. They possess notable textural resonance and volume, with fine-grained tannins and the exceptional balance of a great year.
Drink 2023 - 2027
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (August 2023)
An expert rendition of soft power, this has depths to the expression of Sauvignon Blanc that you find in very few versions of this grape variety. Rippling with lemongrass, tomato leaf, sage, citrus, some riper fleshy fruits of apricot, nectarine and pineapple than in the 2019 vintage, clearly an impressive glass that has tension and grip. Winemaker Olga Fusari, director Axel Heinz.
Drink 2023 - 2032
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com (March 2023)
This wine that once featured Viognier in the blend, is now 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The 2020 Ornellaia Bianco is quite tropical and generous in personality with immediate aromas of papaya, Golden Delicious apple and crushed stone. The wine is beautifully textured and long lasting. I asked if Vermentino might ever feature in this blend (to bring in a Tuscan grape), but the answer is no for now. Vermentino already plays a role in the estate’s very popular entry-level Poggio alle Gazze dell’Ornellaia. Viognier is being cut because the grape is difficult, and if you don’t hit the harvest date just right, it can appear flabby and waxy.
Drink 2023 - 2035
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (July 2022)
Creamy nose with quince, stones, sour cream and golden berries on the nose. Quite tangy, bone-dry and saline on the palate with impressive concentration and tension. Fresh, sleek and full-bodied with a long, zingy finish that lasts almost a minute. Saline and lightly creamy at the end.
Drink or hold
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (February 2024)
8,000 bottles produced, up from 4,000.
The last four vintages have seen Ornellaia Bianco become 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Pressed and fermented directly into oak barrels ranging from 225 to 600 litres (25% new), it's fermented then aged, with occasional battonage, for 10 months in oak before bottling. Delicate aromas of passionfruit, stone fruit, and a hint of wood spice lead to a creamy texture in the mouth with a good degree of fruit concentration. Zesty notes of lemon peel along with tart acidity give the wine backbone and structure. Drinking well now, but could age for another five to 10 years.
Drink 2023 - 2033
Michelle Cherutti-Kowal, Decanter.com (November 2023)
The 2020 Ornellaia Bianco was produced entirely from Sauvignon Blanc for this vintage and was aged in 30% new oak for 10 months. It has generous and rounded notes of beeswax, guava, white flowers, grapefruit. On the palate, it is full, salty, and ripe with peach and mouthwatering citrus. It is crystalline in how salty it is and has a beautiful texture of crushed stones that is long-lasting and refined.
Drink 2026 - 2036
Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com (January 2023)
About this WINE
Ornellaia
Tenuta dell’Ornellaia is located in one of the world’s most exciting wine regions: Bolgheri. A breathtaking avenue lined by towering cypress trees leads inland from the Aurelia, the old Roman coastal road, up to the walls of Bolgheri’s medieval hamlet. From the village the view extends far out to sea and on a clear day the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago and Corsica can be seen.
The mild maritime climate and the lush Mediterranean vegetation leave an imprint upon the character of the wines. Tenuta dell’Ornellaia's unique territory guides all aspects of production: limited quantities to ensure maximum quality, attention to every detail, selective hand harvesting, microvinification and ageing.
Ornellaia is a Cabernet/Merlot wine blend. Masseto is made entirely from Merlot - it is a model of rich, silky elegance and has rapidly become a modern classic.
Bolgheri
Bolgheri is a new DOC in the coastal Maremma region which first rose to prominence during the 1970s with the emergence of the so-called Super Tuscan wines like Ornellaia and Sassicaia. These new ventures had rocked the DOC establishment by using high proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon, opting out of the DOC system and relabeling their wines as simply Vino da Tavola (table wine).
Having won universal acclaim and exchanging hands for unprecedented prices (higher even than Tuscany's finest examples), the authorities relented and awarded Bolgheri its own DOC. The actions of the Super Tuscans inspired a generation in Italy, even if some of the wines here have lost a little of their lustre since.
Sauvignon Blanc
An important white grape in Bordeaux and the Loire Valley that has now found fame in New Zealand and now Chile. It thrives on the gravelly soils of Bordeaux and is blended with Sémillon to produce fresh, dry, crisp Bordeaux Blancs, as well as more prestigious Cru Classé White Graves.
It is also blended with Sémillon, though in lower proportions, to produce the great sweet wines of Sauternes. It performs well in the Loire Valley and particularly on the well-drained chalky soils found in Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, where it produces bone dry, highly aromatic, racy wines, with grassy and sometimes smoky, gunflint-like nuances.
In New Zealand, Cloudy Bay in the 1980s began producing stunning Sauvignon Blanc wines with extraordinarily intense nettly, gooseberry, and asparagus fruit, that set Marlborough firmly on the world wine map. Today many producers are rivalling Cloudy Bay in terms of quality and Sauvignon Blanc is now New Zealand`s trademark grape.
It is now grown very successfully in Chile producing wines that are almost halfway between the Loire and New Zealand in terms of fruit character. After several false starts, many South African producers are now producing very good quality, rounded fruit-driven Sauvignon Blancs.
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Description
8,000 bottles produced, up from 4,000.
The last four vintages have seen Ornellaia Bianco become 100% Sauvignon Blanc. Pressed and fermented directly into oak barrels ranging from 225 to 600 litres (25% new), it's fermented then aged, with occasional battonage, for 10 months in oak before bottling. Delicate aromas of passionfruit, stone fruit, and a hint of wood spice lead to a creamy texture in the mouth with a good degree of fruit concentration. Zesty notes of lemon peel along with tart acidity give the wine backbone and structure. Drinking well now, but could age for another five to 10 years.
Drink 2023 - 2033
Michelle Cherutti-Kowal, Decanter.com (November 2023)
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