Wine Advisor
Ornellaia, Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore 1998
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 1998 Ornellaia (magnum) is the least impressive vintage in this flight. Hints of oxidation come through in notes of beef bouillon and mushroom, suggesting that either the wine has not developed particularly well in bottle or this is not a perfect example. Ideally, the 1998 is best enjoyed sooner rather than later. In 1998 the blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc is 5%. The wine spent 18 months in French oak, 50% new. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2011.
Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.
Made in a relatively structured style for the normally succulent Ornellaia, the dense saturated ruby/purple-colored 1998 offers up aromas of pain grille, spice, smoke, black fruits, and graphite. Full-bodied, concentrated, exceptionally pure, and long, it will be at its finest between 2005-2018. Very impressive, but it requires patience. Importer: Kobrand Corp., New York, NY; tel. (212) 490-9300
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 1998 is a decidedly slender Ornellaia. More advanced than the 1999, it shows notes of tobacco, herbs and ripe fruit on a medium-bodied frame with good length on the palate and slightly less polished tannins than is usually the case. The final blend in 1998 was 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. 91/Anticipated maturity: 2008-2018. Tenuta dell’Ornellaia is without question one of Italy’s blue-chip properties. The gorgeous, sprawling estate is located in Bolgheri in Tuscany’s Maremma. On a recent visit I had the opportunity to taste a number of the estate’s wines with General Manager/Agronomist Leonardo Raspini and Oenologist Axel Heinz, including verticals of the estate’s top bottlings Ornellaia and Masseto. Ornellaia is a Bordeaux-inspired blend consisting principally of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. In 2003 a small percentage of Petit Verdot was introduced. The use of several varietals gives the winemaking team the luxury of being able to tailor the exact proportion of the blend to the specific strengths of a given vintage. Because the blend tends to vary from year to year in a vertical tasting Ornellaia shows many different facets of its personality. After harvest the varietals are vinified separately. Fermentation and maceration lasts between 25-30 days after which the wines are moved into French oak barrels where they age for 12 months. The wines are then racked and assembled into the final blend, which spends an additional six months in barrel prior to being bottled. The percentage of new oak has risen from 50%, which was used for vintages 1997 and 1998, to 60% used in 1999, to the 70% the estate has employed since 2000.
About the Producer
Tenuta dell'Ornellaia (also known as Ornellaia) is located in one of the most beautiful natural locations in the Tuscany region of Italy, and the estate's priority is to produce wines of exceptional quality. The passion for wine, the dedication to quality and the unique terroir have created the highly acclaimed wines of Château Ornellaia, which have established the estate as one of the world's leading wineries. Located in the foothills of the Bolgheri region of Livorno, on the western edge of Tuscany, facing the Mediterranean Sea, Château d'Ornellaia is a unique wine estate. Thanks to its proximity to the sea, the cool sea breeze blows through the vineyards throughout the summer. The soil is predominantly alluvial and volcanic, and the unique terroir and microclimate create an excellent environment for the grapes to grow. There are two main vineyards: the original vineyard of Château d'Ornaya, where the winery is located, and the Bellaria vineyard, located directly east of the town of Paogli. Founded in 1981 by Lodovico Antinori, Château d'Ornaya began producing its first vintage in 1985, and in 1991 Michel Rolland became the winemaking consultant for Château d'Ornaya. In 2005, the Frescobaldi family bought all the remaining shares of Ornellaia and has been running it ever since. This brought Ornellaia back into the hands of the Italians. Since the foundations of Ornellaia were laid more than 20 years ago, the winery has had a vision that the Italian wines of the future would have to be created with a unique and new winemaking process, in search of great quality. To achieve this, the winery had to find a unique origin, get the timing right and have an optimal team. All of this is structured into a philosophy and has enabled Château d'Ornaya to unleash its unlimited potential. With its intelligent team and winemaking philosophy, as well as the inspiration of its "artists", each vintage is crafted into a masterpiece. Château d'Ornellaia is committed to following the laws of nature in the production of each vintage. The grapes are hand-picked when they reach full ripeness and then vinified individually according to the parcels in order to extract the unique and rare terroir brought about by the growing conditions. In addition, the team's dedication and hard work to achieve the winery's goal of producing excellent quality wines has resulted in bottle after bottle of excellent wines. The hand-harvested grapes were completely destemmed and then fermented, partly in wooden barrels and partly in stainless steel tanks. The wine then undergoes malolactic fermentation in oak barrels, 70% of which are new and 30% are old. The wine is then aged in temperature-controlled cellars for 18 months. Once the ageing period has reached 12 months, the winemaker blends the wine and allows it to age further. Château d'Ornaya's winemaking philosophy is based on the belief that wines must faithfully express the characteristics of the terroir. This adherence to this unique terroir is also firmly embedded in all aspects and processes of wine making, such as limiting yields to ensure the highest quality, paying attention to every detail and insisting on hand-selected harvesting and small batch fermentation and ageing.
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