x
  • Country ranking ?

    110
  • Producer ranking ?

    21
  • Decanting time

    2h
  • When to drink

    2020-2030
  • Food Pairing

    Grilled wild boar with mushroom risotto, roasted game birds & grilled lamb chops

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

“What appeared to be a disadvantage for the 2013 vintage – late budding and flowering – proved to be a major advantage thanks to a warm summer and month of September offering textbook conditions for harvesting, with cool temperatures but a prevalence of sunny weather. This resulted in slow but complete ripening with great balance and a delightful aromatic quality, which we like to define as “Elegance”. Ornellaia 2013, with its dense, vibrant colour, has a nose of splendid aromatic complexity built around a limpid and brilliant fruitiness, underscored by refined spicy and balsamic notes. The mouth develops vibrant and complex fruity nuances framed by a dense, slender structure with tannins that attain a rare harmony between firmness and fleshiness, concluding with a long balanced and fresh finish.” – Axel Heinz, May 2015

Wine critic scores:

Wine Advocate 96

Wine Spectator 93

James Suckling 98

Antonio Galloni 96

Falstaff 96

 

Close

The Story

Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore DOC is the estate's flagship wine which embodies the quality philosophy of the estate.

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia's production hilosophy is based upon the belief that wines must be the most faithful expression of the terroirs that produce them. The mild marine climate and the colours and aromas of the lush Mediterranean vegetation leave a special imprint upon the character of the wines. A respect for the estate's unique territory guides all aspects of production: limited quantities to ensure maximum quality, attention to every detail, selective hand harvesting, microvinification and ageing.

The Ornellaia vineyard totals 280 acres that are divided into more than 70 vineyard plots according to soil type, exposition and varietal. There are three major soil types: marine (sedimentary deposit from the sea), alluvial (marly, sandy clays with mineral veins), and volcanic (schist, gravel and porous soils). All the vineyards are about 3 miles from the Mediterranean shore. The mild maritime climate features sea breezes that keep the sky clear, low rainfall, and long summers that favor the development of aromatic compounds.
Vineyards are planted at high density, from 5,000-8,700 hl/ha, and feature several training systems – spur-pruned cordon, single Guyot, and head-pruned vines.

The clusters are hand-picked into 15-kg boxes and then go through a selection by hand on a double sorting table, both before and after destemming, and grapes are finally softly crushed. Each grape variety and single vineyard block is vinified separately. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks at temperatures between 26-30°C for two weeks, followed by 10-15 days of maceration on the skins. The malolactic fermentation takes place mainly in oak barrels, 70% new and 30% once-used. The wine then remains in barriques, in Ornellaia’s temperature- controlled cellars, for about 18 months. After the first 12 months of maturation, the wine is assembled and then returned to the barriques for an additional 6 months. After bottling, the wine ages a further 12 months prior to release.

Close

Wine Information

Blend: 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot

Artist label: Yutaka Sone Ornellaia 2013 "L'Eleganza"

After a dry 2012, winter 2013 was characterised by mild but very rainy weather, which caused a delay in budding of up to 15 days. The cold and rain also led to irregular and very long flowering – with a two-week delay compared to the average – which reduced production and resulted in uncoordinated development of clusters. Fortunately the summer, which arrived punctually at the end of June, was perfect, dry and sunny, but with a few peaks of intense heat in July and August. The slow vegetative development was ultimately beneficial because it deferred ripening until after the hottest period. The storms of August significantly lowered the temperatures, especially at night, which favoured aromatic expression, but led to a later than average harvest, between 9 September and 14 October, with mainly sunny weather without excessive heat.

Winemaking: The clusters were hand-picked into 15-kg boxes and then selected by hand on a double sorting table, before and after destemming, and finally softly crushed. Each grape variety and single vineyard block was vinified separately. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at temperatures between 26-30°C for two week, followed by 10-15 days of maceration on the skins. The malolactic fermentation took place mainly in oak barrels, 70% new and 30% once-used. The wine then remained in barriques, in Ornellaia’s temperaturecontrolled cellars for about 18 months. After the first 12 months of maturation, the wine was assembled and then returned to the barriques for an additional 6 months. After bottling, the wine aged a further 12 months prior to release.

 

 

Close

Tasting note

Be the first one to make a 20s tasting note!

Written Notes

Chocolate and mulberry notes. Dense, with dry herbs. Black fruits, leather, black cherry. On the palate, it is rather like a choc/cherry shake. Lots of tannins here, very fine cashmere-like tannins. Bright acidity. This has excellent length. Very, very good. A first class wine. Dark and deep, this wine has a great future ahead of it. A top Ornellaia.
  • 96p

Dark ruby red colour. Intense, toasty nose shows cacao and sage. Full-bodied, firm palate has a great backbone from mouthdrying refined tannins. Long and lingering savoury finish with intense ripe fruit character. Drinking well already but will peak in 5 years and keep well until 2030. Decant 1.5 hours before serving and serve 17-18C with roasted duck breast and baked beetroots with rosemary. – JL 96p (11/2018)

  • 96p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

Bolgheri, Tuscany

Grapes

38% Merlot
45% Cabernet Sauvignon
7% Petit Verdot
10% Cabernet Franc

Vintage Quality

Excellent

Other wines from this producer

La Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia

Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia

Le Volte dell'Ornellaia

Le Volte dell’Ornellaia

Massetino

Masseto

Ornellaia Bianco

Ornus dell’Ornellaia

Poggio alle Gazze dell'Ornellaia

Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register