2003 Le Volte dell’Ornellaia

Agronomist Leonardo Raspini shook his head when I asked him about the 2003 vintage. "Hot? Our average daily temperature in June was 25.8�C, when normally it's closer to 21�C, and there were many nights when it never went below 30�C," he told me. Yet Ornellaia, thanks in large measure to its uniquely situated vineyards, wasn't forced to harvest quite as early as other estates. "We picked some merlot on August 23rd," Raspini said, "but mainly from the 30th to the 10th of September. We didn't touch the merlot for Masseto until the 22nd and 23rd of September, and the grapes from the central portion of the vineyard weren't harvested until the 30th, which was unheard of in the area in 2003." Masseto's vineyard is located in a specific geological formation characterized by deep clays of different origins and age, and the soil content helps to explain the wine's uniqueness. "Still, we only made half the usual number of bottles," Raspini added. "Of the four different parcels that yield the grapes for Masseto, we were only able to use those that came from the central three-hectare plot, which is always the best, year in and year out. The other three suffered too much from the heat." Both '03 and '02 are excellent performances for their respective vintages.