2021 Ornellaia

The 2021 Ornellaia is every bit as impressive as the components were when I tasted them during a visit to the property in September 2022. Harvest started early, in the last days of August, and then continued for several weeks. It’s a vintage with very high extract, more than even years like 2006, and yet the wine feels incredibly finessed, the result of gentler extraction overall and a lighter hand with oak. The last few years have seen a clear move towards complementing and balancing the natural opulence of Bolgheri rather than emphasizing it – as was sometimes the case in the past – and it shows. The Bianco, 100% Sauvignon Blanc, is also terrific.

In other news, Ornellaia has a new team headed by Technical Director Marco Balsimelli and Winemaker Denise Cosentino, both of whom joined following the departure of longtime Estate Director Axel Heinz and Winemaker Olga Fusari. Balsimelli worked alongside highly respected Bordeaux consultant Eric Boissenot for more than a decade, while Cosentino was most recently Winemaker at Domaines Barons de Rothchild’s Long Dai winery in Shandong, China. Balsimelli and Cosentino have stellar educational pedigrees and resumes. It will be interesting to see what the next chapter brings.