Despite a tough vintage, the 2014 Ornellaia impresses with structure and polish. It’s full-bodied, with dark berry, black tea, spice, and earthy notes. Tannins are firm but refined, and there's a fresh lift from the cooler growing season. Less rich than usual, but elegant and balanced. Best enjoyed from 2019 onward. A classy effort in a challenging year.

Jamessuckling.com | JS 95
Published: Jun 29, 2017

A solid and structured red with tile, dark berry and black tea character and some cloves, too. Full body, tannic and rich. Needs time to soften. Well done for a 2014. Ornellaia shows its pedigree here. Better in 2019.

The Wine Advocate | RP 94
Published: Apr 28, 2017
Drink: 2019-2035

To be released in May 2017, the 2014 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia reverts to a style and personality that we have not seen in a long while. The wine shows a tight, silky and determined approach that reminds us of the Ornellaias made under the estate's previous ownership with the Marchese Lodovico Antinori in the mid-1990s. More than anything else, this has to do with the very unique characteristics of the 2014 growing season. The wine opens to a beautifully saturated and dark appearance. Thanks to the advanced age of the vines and their extensive root systems, fruit quality was well preserved despite the cool summer and late harvest. The wine shows sweet fruit nuances with blackberry and dark currant. Spice, leather and tobacco fill in the rear. The finish reveals just enough of that acidic prickle to assure an easy ten or fifteen year drinking window. 

Under the steady management of lead winemaker Alex Heinz, Tenuta dell'Ornellaia has been tweaking its new white wine with very interesting results. In its first vintage to hit the market, the 2013 Ornellaia Bianco was 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Viognier (the clones were taken from neighbor Michele Satta). The cooler 2014 vintage showed very good results with Viognier, but despite this fact, the wine made in that vintage saw 15% Viognier and a small percentage of Petit Manseng for additional body weight. The 2015 vintage is all Sauvignon and the 2016 will be the same. Alex tells me that one day his hope is to add the local variety Vermentino to the Ornellaia Bianco blend.

Decanter | D 91
Published: Feb 14, 2019
Drink: 2019-2030

This was one of the most challenging vintages ever in Tuscany, with no exception in Bolgheri. The wine doesn’t lack its characteristic cassis fruit but it shows a leathery, slightly gamey forest-floor complexity of a more immediate style for drinking. Plum and clove flavours are sustained by grainy tannins with a slightly green finish, accompanied by balancing acidity and relatively low alcohol at 13.5%.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 13.50%
Body: Full
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 15% Cabernet Franc 55% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Merlot

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 17.5
Published: Oct 7, 2024
Drink: 2022-2036

34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot, 14% Cabernet Franc. Aged for 18 months in barrique.
Dark crimson with a pale rim. Super-snazzy nose. What’s not to like?! Just a glorious blend that, frankly, could have been made anywhere. Not sure it really expresses the terroir but it’s such skilful winemaking. Beautifully balanced and composed without being too rich.

Ornellaia.com

The 2019 vintage provided the inspiration, characterized by highly variable conditions interspersed with cold, wet spells and long periods of heat and drought. After a changeable spring and an almost perfect summer, the lower temperatures at the end of September resulted in wines of great finesse and aromatic abundance. This is a powerful, mysterious and intriguing wine, whose first sip does not reveal all its facets, but envelops the palate, curious to grasp its myriad nuances.