Winemaker Notes
As the winery's most important and awarded wine, Sor Ugo represents the elegance and strength of Bolgheri. A "Super Tuscan" Bordeaux-blend created by the prominent enologist Tibor Gal, it is named after Ugo, the first Pellegrini family member who started to work with grapes and wines a century ago (Sor is an old honorific, short for Signor).
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A lot of helichrysum and ripe, almost under-spirit cherries. Lifted acidity with velvety tannins, full body and a more austere finish due to the oak. Yet, it remains balanced.
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Vinous
The 2021 Sor Ugo is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Blueberry jam, spice, licorice, menthol, cloves, chocolate and incense all race out of the glass. Opulent and flamboyant to the core, Sor Ugo offers tons of textural richness and persistence. Rose petal, cinnamon and mocha blossom into the huge finish.
Aia Vecchia is the name of an old building which is today the centre of a company deep in the Tuscany countryside between Bolgheri and Castagneto Carducci. This is an area where the particularly favorable microclimate and The Pellegrini family, Aia Vecchia’s owners, have been grape growers in the Bolgheri area for several generations and have sold their grapes to many of the most notable wineries in the region for decades. After replanting their original vineyards in 1995, the following year they took the plunge and established their own winery with the goal of creating a portfolio of small-lot, high-quality Super Tuscan blends focusing on Bordeaux grape varieties.
On one of the family’s properties there was an old building called Aia Vecchia, which would become the symbol and namesake of the company. The family enlisted the help of well-known agronomist Daniel Schuster in the selection of their vines, which were imported directly from Bordeaux. They also sought out the services of another highly talented consultant—Hungarian winemaker Tibor Gal, who had been chief winemaker at the pioneering Super Tuscan Ornellaia in Bolgheri. With this lineup, Aia Vecchia developed Lagone, their Merlot-based first wine, in 1998.
Given the success of this vineyard’s Lagone, Aia Vecchia, under the supervision of Gal, launched a Cabernet-based Super Tuscan in 2001, their top label Sor Ugo. Aia Vecchia added white wine in 2008. The Vermentino is made from estates at Orbetello and Magliano in Toscana, both of which are in Grosseto province some 60 miles southeast of Bolgheri.
Today the family farms a total of 112 acres split between the two estates in Bolgheri and Maremma Grossetana. In the Bolgheri zone they have planted Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot grapes. The estate of Magliano in Toscana (Grosseto), is planted to Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Vermentino and Viognier grape varieties. The winery and cellars, Aia Vecchia, are located in Castagneto Carducci, in Bolgheri. Elia Pellegrini now manages the estate with his father and uncle; Nicola Scottini is winemaker.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.