The ’15 Le Serre Nuove reflects its almost textbook growing year with a profile that’s firm, structured, vibrant and age-worthy. Juicy red and blue fruits dance with crushed flower petals, pencil lead, baking spices, sun-warmed loam, and a kiss of toasted oak. Polished, sophisticated tannins stud the cheeks, filling the mouth with a satisfying, textured heft, but electric acidity keeps the wine nimble and lifted, and the subtly herbal inner perfume lingers into the sustained, harmonic finish. You’ll want to drink this aromatic wine right off the bat, but a couple years in the cellar will reward your patience. A blend that changes every vintage, the ‘15 Le Serre Nuove is a blend of 64% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 9% Petit Verdot. The estate vinifies each vineyard block separately, fermenting the grapes in temperature-controlled stainless steel and aging the wines for about 15 months in barrique, one-quarter new, before assembling the final blend; after, the wine ages for another three months in barrel and six months in bottle before release.
- Country: Italy
- Region: Toscana
- Subregion/Classification: Bolgheri Rosso
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. The juice remains unblended until the wines have spent approximately one year in small French barriques. The final cuvee is assembled to evoke the vinous finess of the Cabernet highlighted by ripe, aromatic notes of Merlot in an elegant yet firm style balancing fruit, acidity, oak, and tannic backbone.
The estate's Le Volte is a blend of Tuscan Sangiovese with Bordeaux's Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that can be considered a "Young Ornellaia." They also produce Le Serre Nuove, the "second Ornellaia," and Masseto, one Bolgheri's greatest wines!
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