Ornellaia is one of Italy’s most famous labels, a benchmark of modern Bolgheri and, frankly, one of the world’s great Bordeaux-style blends. But every so often, even for a store like ours, the icons demand... Read More

Ornellaia is one of Italy’s most famous labels, a benchmark of modern Bolgheri and, frankly, one of the world’s great Bordeaux-style blends. But every so often, even for a store like ours, the icons demand attention.

Ornellaia’s story is practically inseparable from Bolgheri’s rise. When it debuted in the 1980s, this Tuscan coastal region was little-known. Its mix of maritime breezes, gravelly soils, and Bordeaux grapes (Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot) turned out to be an inspired combination — and Ornellaia became its standard-bearer, helping put Bolgheri on the global fine wine map.

For a while, Ornellaia epitomized the Super Tuscan era’s lush, modern style: powerful, plush, and unapologetically rich. But times have changed, and so has the wine. Farming has shifted toward organics, winemaking has become more restrained, and the focus is now on transparency and nuance — a style much closer to what we love in this newsletter. It’s still unmistakably Bolgheri, with ripe black fruit and Mediterranean herbs, but there’s a precision and freshness that makes it far more compelling than the caricatured Super Tuscans of decades past.