Tenuta dell'Ornellaia

Lodovico knows wines well and chose an idyllic site in the hills near Bolgheri to create his own magnificent property, beautifully positioned next to the Sassicaia vineyards on gentle slopes above the coastal plain. He set about creating a great estate to make wines in the emerging Super-Tuscan mould to rival the best wines in the world. Instead of planting Sangiovese, he planted Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, as well as Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc. A massive investment was made and an impressive winery was built in the Californian style. Work continues today extending the winery and the initial desire to fully integrate the structures into the landscape has resulted in a beautiful and harmonious building. Lodovico developed and nurtured the estate for over a decade before passing the baton to the very successful joint ownership of Marchese de' Frescobaldi and Robert Mondavi which has today metamorphosed into ownership by Tenuta di Toscana, a company controlled by Marchesi de'Frescobaldi.

With its bright ruby-red colour, intense scents of red berries and rose petals are clearly distinguishable on the nose, while on the palate the taste is full-bodied and enveloping, characterised by dense tannins and a vibrant acidity which make this a highly pleasant and enjoyable wine.

Try with seared sirloin steak and porcini mushrooms.

The different varietals were fermented separately in small steel tanks to maintain their varietal characteristics. The alcoholic fermentation was followed by malolactic fermentation, again in steel tanks. The wine was then aged for 10 months, partly in barrique used previously for Ornellaia and partly in concrete tanks, to obtain the perfect balance between tannic structure and an expression of fresh fruit.