ORNELLAIA 2013 'L'ELEGANZA' - BOLGHERI DOC SUPERIORE<br />The desire to express the exceptional qualities of the estate has been at the heart of Ornellaia's philosophy from the very beginning. Ornellaia is a cuvée of Cabernet<br />Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, a faithful expression of a unique terroir that has always been in harmony with nature.<br /><br />TASTING NOTES FROM THE ENOLOGIST 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot 'What seemed to be a disadvantage for the 2013<br />vintage - a late bud break and late flowering - turned out to be a great advantage thanks to a textbook summer and month of harvest, with cool temperatures but mostly<br />sunny weather. This led to a slow but complete ripening with great balance and fascinating aromatic quality, what we like to call 'Elegance'. Deep and dense in colour,<br />Ornellaia 2013 presents itself on the nose with a splendid aromatic complexity that is built around a bright and clear fruitiness, underlined by refined spicy and balsamic<br />notes. The palate develops with vibrant, complex fruit framed by a dense, slender structure with tannins that achieve a rare balance between firmness and flesh, concluding<br />with a long, balanced, fresh finish.' Axel Heinz - May 2015<br /><br />THE CLIMATE OF 2013 After the dry 2012, the winter of 2013 was characterised by mild but very rainy weather, which caused a delay in budding of a good 15 days. The<br />cold and rainy weather also led to an irregular and very long flowering period - two weeks later than average - which reduced production and caused uneven cluster<br />development. Fortunately, the summer, which arrived on time at the end of June, was perfect, dry and sunny, but not without some peaks of intense heat in July and August.<br />In the end, the vegetative delay was beneficial because it moved the ripening to after the hottest period. The mid-August thunderstorms significantly lowered temperatures -<br />especially at night - becoming favourable for aromatic expression, but forcing us to harvest later than average, starting on 9 September and ending on 14 October, with<br />mostly sunny weather without excessive heat.<br /><br />WINE-MAKING AND REFINING The grapes were hand-picked into 15 kg crates and selected on a double sorting table before and after destemming and then softly<br />crushed. Each variety and each parcel was vinified separately. Alcoholic fermentation took place in stainless steel vats at temperatures between 26-30°C for a week,<br />followed by maceration for a total of approximately 10-15 days. Malolactic fermentation took place mainly in oak barriques (70% new and 30% second passage). The wine<br />remained in barriques in the Ornellaia cellars at a controlled temperature for a period of about 18 months. After the first 12 months it was blended and then reintroduced into<br />the barriques where it spent a further 6 months. The wine remained in the bottle for a further 12 months before release.<br />
Price
€302.00
