Ornellaia 2014

Very floral and fresh with dark berry, lemon rind and hints of cloves and spice. Medium to full body, firm and silky tannins and a pretty finish of fruit, smoke, toasted oak and more spice. Better in 2019. Outstanding for the vintage.

To be released in May 2017, the 2014 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia reverts to a style and personality that we have not seen in a long while. The wine shows a tight, silky and determined approach that reminds us of the Ornellaias made under the estate's previous ownership with the Marchese Lodovico Antinori in the mid-1990s. More than anything else, this has to do with the very unique characteristics of the 2014 growing season. The wine opens to a beautifully saturated and dark appearance. Thanks to the advanced age of the vines and their extensive root systems, fruit quality was well preserved despite the cool summer and late harvest. The wine shows sweet fruit nuances with blackberry and dark currant. Spice, leather and tobacco fill in the rear. The finish reveals just enough of that acidic prickle to assure an easy ten or fifteen year drinking window.

Toast, underbrush, tobacco leaf and cassis aromas lead the nose. Reflecting the cool wet vintage, the palate is austere and lighter bodied than usual but still elegant, offering raw cherry, pomegranate, licorice and ground pepper alongside tight close-grained tannins. Give the tannins several more years to unwind.

Starts out with aromas of black currant and cherry, followed by flavors of herb, tobacco, iron and spice. Turns dense and tannic in the end. Elegant and complex overall, but this needs to resolve the tannins and integrate the oak. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2018 through 2025.