Tenuta dell’Ornellaia’s Ornellaia 2020 is a Bolgheri Superiore built on the estate’s classic Bordeaux-variety frame: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot, bottled at 14.5% ABV. It was raised with significant oak input—“70% new oak,” as Jane Anson notes—with the blend assembled after 12 months, then returned to barrel for a further six months and held 12 months in bottle before release.
The 2020 vintage drew unusually consistent acclaim, including several standout scores. James Suckling awarded an excellent 98 points, calling out “alluring aromas of lead pencil and currants with crushed stone and iodine,” and a palate that is “very fresh and energetic with wonderful length and intensity,” advising patience: “Better in 2028 and onwards.” Jane Anson also gave an excellent 98, describing “heady fruit-filled aromatics” alongside Ornellaia’s “classic balsamic notes,” plus “orange zest, fennel, damson [and] black cherry,” concluding simply, “it’s a stormer.” Decanter (96) emphasizes texture and mineral drive, highlighting “plush tannins” alongside “an austere, mineral grip,” with flavors ranging from “cola and liquorice” to “wet stone.”
Several critics underscore how the wine balances immediate appeal with structure. Wine Spectator (96) finds it “sleek and open on the palate,” “so well-balanced” and “approachable now,” finishing with “a salty, flinty element,” and suggests 2026–2045. Vinous (96) calls it “gorgeous” and “super-refined,” praising “precision and understated finesse,” and sees it as “relatively accessible…with minimal cellaring.”
Still, the core message is that this is a serious, age-worthy Ornellaia. Monica Larner at Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (95) describes an “especially concentrated and oak-driven vintage” marked by “toasted oak, Spanish cedar, campfire ash and iron ore,” adding that it “absolutely requires more aging time” and feels “tight and firm in its youth.” Jeb Dunnuck (96) splits the difference, pointing to “fabulous and polished tannins” and a long runway, recommending cellaring and projecting a 2025–2046 drinking window.
