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This is one dark, brooding, sensual wine that flows like silk and lingers like embers. Cassis, berries and cherries, graphite and spice, espresso and chocolate: there’s an ever-evolving caravan of delights that meld, morph and make merry on the palate. This Bordeaux-style blend might be Ornellaia’s second-string wine, but it is always a client favorite at IWM, and the ’09 is no exception. It’s a rich, hedonistic brew, and it’s drinking to the end of this decade.
- Country: Italy
- Region: Toscana
- Sub-region/Appellation: Bolgheri Rosso
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia makes outstanding wines even in poor vintages - better than any other. In the capable hands of winemaker Thomas Duroux and consultant Michel Rolland, the estate continues its long-standing, stellar record of world-class wine production. Even the estate's "second" wines demonstrate high quality grape growing and flawless production methods. Located in Tuscany's tiny coastal DOC of Bolgheri, the estate was one of the first to plant vines in the area. With producers like Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia, Antinori, Grattamacco, and Le Macchiole among others, Bolgheri is the hotbed of winemaking momentum in Toscana.
With the same name as the winery, a reference to the grove of flowering ash trees surrounding it, Ornellaia is the estate's principal wine. The 63 acres of predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with small plantings of Cabernet Franc vines, lie on elevated parcels composed of clay, gravel, and loam soils. The clones of diverse origins yield a rich palette of nuances. All grapes are destemmed, gently pressed, and introduced into either wooden or stainless steel fermentation vessels. Maceration takes place over a period of 25-32 days at a temperature not exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, during which time the wine completes its alcoholic fermentation.(more...)
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