Amazing graphite and violet aromas with dark fruits. Medium to full body, ultra-velvety tannins and a long and beautiful finish. Formed and tight. I love the fresh ginger underneath it all. This has a cool profile to the wine. So approachable yet has wonderful length.

This wine will be released in May 2016. The 2013 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is an integrated and seamless blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Alex Heinz tells me that 2013 was a difficult vintage especially towards the early part of the growing season. It balanced out during the summer and allowed for steady ripening of fruit before the harvest. But 2013 was not as hot as 2011 and 2012 overall, and this edition of Ornellaia is beautifully tonic and shapely as a result. The bouquet is very developed in terms of aromas this year with beautiful notes of dark fruit, tobacco and spice. Those perfumes are just gorgeous. The mouthfeel is similarly intense with tannins that are still young, but are already silky and linear in nature. This vintage promises a long aging future. - Monica Larner

(95+ points) The inky colored 2013 Ornellaia is made from 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It was brought up in 70% new French oak, with the balance in once-used barrels, aged 18 months before bottling. Cassis, blackberries, graphite, toasty oak, and licorice notes all flow to a full-bodied, concentrated, structured 2013 that has beautiful purity and elegance, building tannin, and a great finish. It’s a beautiful wine that’s going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and shine for 10-15 years.

‘What appeared to be a disadvantage for the 2013 vintage – late budding and flowering – proved to be a major advantage thanks to a warm summer and month of September offering textbook conditions for harvesting, with cool temperatures but a prevalence of sunny weather. This resulted in slow but complete ripening with great balance and a delightful aromatic quality, which we like to define as Elegance”,’ commented Axel Heinz, outgoing managing director of Ornellaia. It's a very smoky wine, balsamic and still slightly oaky, with plum and dark chocolate aromas underlining the Merlot within the blend (45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot). The attack is velvety, with chalky tannins on the finish, crisp acidity and amazing savouriness on the finish. Impressively youthful and elegant.

The balsamic edge is clear, as are the waves of rosemary, toasted herbs, cumin, underbrush, dried herbs, amaretto biscuits, red cherry, tobacco. There were challenges in this vintage, with a cool beginning to the season followed by a hot summer, and they waited and extended picking to ensure complexity, with a long harvest stretching from September 9 to October 14. Feels beautifully Tuscan, with its blend of herbs and spices, and is full of charm, a little more evolved than some in the lineup. 70% new oak for ageing. Axel Heinz winemaker.

Vanilla, toast and smoke notes shade the black cherry and plum aromas, while the spicy oak theme carries over on the palate. A brash style that shows fine balance, but this will require time to find equilibrium. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2018 through 2029. 12,000 cases made. –BS

A blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot, this opens with aromas of red currant, fragrant purple flower and exotic spice. The currant aroma carries over to the austere palate along with cranberry, chopped herb and French oak. With its backbone of firm acidity and assertive close-grained tannins, it already boasts finesse but will need years to soften and develop. Drink 2021–2028. KERIN O’KEEFE