Description

Bolgheri DOC Rosso

Ornellaia website – click here

Area: Tuscany/ Toscana

Grapes: 44% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Cabernet Franc, 13% Petit Verdot

Alc. : 14,5 % vol.

Crafted from the same varieties, under the same sky, from the same philosophy: Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia is a proud second vin, which has the ability to foretell the personality of the estate’s flagship wine. Together, the two wines provide their own distinctive points of view. The pleasure of sipping Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia evolves over time, adding the charm of maturity to the vigour of youth.

The 2020 Growing Season

After a mild and rainy winter, there was a temporary drop in temperatures in March with a few nights below 0°Cat the very start of the budding in the last week of the month. Fortunately, the newly opened shoots were stillprotected by the cottony tissue of the bud and were not damaged by the frost. The rest of spring had generallywarm weather with normal rainfall that ensured regular growth until flowering, which took place on averagebetween 20 and 25 May. There was an intense rainy period in the middle of June, followed by a very long dry periodwith a virtual absence of rain and torrid temperatures until the end of August. The véraison was even and quickbetween 20 and 25 July, with the grapes beginning to ripen under a blazing sun.Rains arrived at the end of August, resulting in a significant drop in temperatures, falling as low as 13°C at night,and creating the ideal conditions for completing the ripening of the Merlot grapes. They were harvested in just twoweeks to preserve maximum freshness and fruitiness, just in time to avoid a sudden week-long heatwave duringwhich the thermometer registered temperatures of up to 37 degrees, sending sugar content soaring for all thevarieties still to be harvested. This led us to begin harvesting Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from youngvines as early as 17 September.Towards the end of September, a passing burst of rain finally brought the climatic conditions back to normal, andthe water absorbed by the grapes lowered the alcohol content to normal values, allowing us to complete theCabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot harvest on 3 October.

Vinification and Ageing

The grapes were handpicked into 15 kg baskets. The bunches were selected by hand on a double sorting table beforeand after de-stemming, then finally soft-pressed. In addition to handpicking, we introduced optical selection in2016 in order to further increase the quality of berry selection. Each variety and each parcel of land was vinifiedseparately. The alcoholic fermentation took place partly in stainless steel tanks and partly in concrete vats attemperatures between 22-28°C for two weeks, followed by maceration for a total of about 10-15 days. Themalolactic fermentation took place in stainless steelwas after which the wines were racked into barriques (25% newand 75% used once). The wine remained in barriques in Ornellaia’s temperature-controlled cellars for about 15months. After the first 12 months the wine was blended and then returned to the barriques for an additional threemonths of ageing. The wine remains in the bottle for another six months prior to release.Axel Heinz – Estate Director