Ornellaia Bianco 2015
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Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very pronounced on the nose, which suggests lemon meringue, dried guava peel, orange blossom, mangoes, dried papaya, vanilla and even kiwis. Full-bodied and very structured and layered, reflecting its innate freshness, but most of all power and massive phenolics. Deservedly one of Italy’s best whites. Drink now or hold.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Ornellaia Bianco is a more rounded, powerful white compared to the 2016 and has ripe, sexy notes of honeyed melon, white flowers, honeysuckle, and subtle minerality. While its aromatics lack the precision and purity of the 2016, it's brilliant on the palate and offers full-bodied, pristine flavors, beautiful focus and precision, and a great finish. As with the 2016, this is pure Sauvignon Blanc brought up all in barrel, 30% being new.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Bianco Ornellaia will be released in October 2017. This new vinous creation was inaugurated just three years ago. Back then, it represented a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. We saw the percentage of Viognier reduced in the 2014 vintage and it has now been completely removed in this edition. This wine is a pure expression of Sauvignon and I'm told that the 2016 vintage will be the same. The wine was bottled in December 2016, so I preview tasted it just a few months after it was put into glass. Because 2015 is a warm vintage, General Manager Alex Heinz tells me that the Viognier risked tasting too heavy and viscous. Instead, you get the crisp linearity and pristine aromas that remind you of a white Bordeaux, evidently the inspiration for this Tuscan wine. It is fermented in 30% new oak and rests on the lees for one year with frequent stirring. The wine is rich and silky in texture with fragrances of exotic fruit, honey and saffron. There is a delicate touch of alcohol as well. Balanced acidity and salty mineral nuances cap the powerful experience.
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In 1981, Marchese Lodovico Antinori breathed new life into Tenuta dell' Ornellaia, an estate whose potential had been ignored for decades. With the help of Andre Tchelistcheff, the famous agronomist, Antinori planted the first French vines in Bolgheri, which lies in the heart of Tuscany's coastal region, Maremma. The estate yields some of the finest Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc in Tuscany. In 2002, Marchesi de' Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi became owners of Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, which is now owned exclusively by Marchesi de' Frescobaldi.
Ornellaia has established itself among the iconic wine estates in Italy (and beyond). The estate is dedicated to producing charming and opulent wines, full of Mediterranean character and finesse, reflecting the estate’s unique terroir in Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast. The combination of Bolgheri’s unique soils and growing conditions, and what can only be characterized as a total obsession with excellence, result in the world-class wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sauvignon Blanc that so many wine lovers across the world have come to cherish.
Ornellaia employs a full time team of 80 people whose passion and motivation make Ornellaia what it is today. No shortcuts in the part of the production are allowed and the details literally come down to a grape by grape basis. Wines are intently crafted to capture the character of each vintage, in all its complexity and facets. In fact, the character and intricacies of each individual vintage are so important to the estate that since vintage 2006, Winemaker and Estate Director Axel Heinz has identified a single word that captures the character of each vintage, and that word is interpreted by a contemporary artist who produces special labels and a site-specific work of art that remains part of the estate’s permanent collection.
In addition to its place among Italy’s iconic wines, Ornellaia is also an ambassador for the Bolgheri region, leading it to be recognized as one of Italy’s greatest winegrowing regions. It is their belief, and it is hard to argue, that Bogheri’s mild maritime climate and diversity of soils create wines as distinct, complex and pleasurable as any in the world.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
One of the most iconic Italian regions for wine, scenery and history, Tuscany is the world’s most important outpost for the Sangiovese grape. Tuscan wine ranges in style from fruity and simple to complex and age-worthy, Sangiovese makes up a significant percentage of plantings here, with the white Trebbiano Toscano coming in second.
Within Tuscany, many esteemed wines have their own respective sub-zones, including Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The climate is Mediterranean and the topography consists mostly of picturesque rolling hills, scattered with vineyards.
Sangiovese at its simplest produces straightforward pizza-friendly Tuscan wines with bright and juicy red fruit, but at its best it shows remarkable complexity and ageability. Top-quality Sangiovese-based wines can be expressive of a range of characteristics such as sour cherry, balsamic, dried herbs, leather, fresh earth, dried flowers, anise and tobacco. Brunello, an exceptionally bold Tuscan wine, expresses well the particularities of vintage variations and is thus popular among collectors. Chianti is associated with tangy and food-friendly dry wines at various price points. A more recent phenomenon as of the 1970s is the “Super Tuscan”—a red wine made from international grape varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, with or without Sangiovese. These are common in Tuscany’s coastal regions like Bolgheri, Val di Cornia, Carmignano and the island of Elba.