2020 Le Serre Nuove

This was a hot year, and as with the main estate wine you feel the generosity of the vintage coming through in an exuberantly supple texture and a blast of underbrush spice. Gathers grip and momentum through the palate, this is an enjoyable wine that holds your interest from beginning to end, with a mouthwatering kick. Approachable with a good few hours in a carafe now. Director Axel Heinz, winemaker Olga Fusari.

Produced from 44% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2020 Le Serra Nuove Dell'Ornellaia is expressive with floral notes as well as dried lavender, sage, and black cherry. The oak (30% of which was new) is present but not out of balance and will benefit from another 6-12 months in bottle to integrate. The palate is full bodied, with fine tannins and refreshing acidity. It is long on the palate and cleans up with a soft texture, and there is ripe fruit through the mid-palate. This wine offers tremendous value packed in dollar-for-dollar. Drink 2024-2034. Founded in 1981 by Marchesi Lodovico Antinori, since 2005 the ownership of Ornellaia has been entirely with the Frescobaldi family of wine estates. The famed oenologist Michel Rolland has been an instrumental consultant since 1991 and remains so to this day. Axel Heinz, who was brought on as winemaker in 2005, is now the Estate Director, and Olga Fusari, who started as an intern in 2005, has now taken the lead as winemaker. In the winery, they work entirely with medium toast French oak, hoping not to impact the aromatic profile of the wines too much. The Serre Nuove, which was established in 1997, originally served as an outlet for the younger vines of the estate, but today it has evolved, with its own full expression and style, as a wine to drink more immediately than the flagship label. As for the Ornellaia, they believe these are wines that really begin to show their best after ten years of maturation.

The Ornellaia 2020 Bolgheri Rosso Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia (a proprietary blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) is a generous and darkly toned red blend that has the extra fruit fiber, sweetness and generous plumpness of a warm vintage. The fullness of the fruit is on full display, but in a very relaxed and natural manner. The wine never feels like too much. The tannins are yielding and velvety, and this purebred Tuscan red wraps thickly over the palate. It's poised for near- and medium-term drinking.