Vinous (97)

Fine, silky tannins provide the backdrop for the 2010 Paleo Rosso, a wine that captivates for its exquisite, graceful personality. Sweet, perfumed aromatics jump from the glass, followed by dark notes of red and black stone fruit, melted road tar, spices and espresso, all woven together in a fabric of pure class. The 2010 boasts stunning depth and volume, but is never heavy. All the elements are simply in the right place, but readers will need to give the tannins a few years to soften a bit further.

Wine Advocate (97+)

The Three Graces of Le Macchiole are Messorio, Scrio and Paleo (Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Franc, respectively). Of these three top-tier releases, my favorite is the 2017 Paleo. This is an upright and direct expression of the grape that carefully sheds some dusty or mineral aromas before opening the way for determined black fruit, charred meat, spice and cured tobacco or cigar. There is quite a bit of oak, but it works beautifully against the natural intensity and rich concentration of the hot vintage. More unexpected are those pretty tones of lilac, blue flower and aniseed that add to the detailed rendering and complexity of the bouquet. This wine won my heart.

The Wine Independent (98)

The 2019 Le Macchiole Paleo included for the first time grapes from the Ulivino vineyard. This 2.7 ha vineyard, on the northern border of Bolgheri was planted in 2015. At 70 meters above sea level it is really a little hill, surrounded by forest and facing the sea. The Cabernet Franc is planted on an east/west exposure and Le Macchiole feel these grapes will add more power and freshness to the wine. It starts off with youthful, creamy, exotic spice and incense-like notes of oak, but underneath there is a lovely, leafy, raspberry note that is very distinctively Cabernet Franc. There is a beautiful, precise quality to the fruit, with dark berries, licorice, quinine notes and a very long finish. Like the 2016, this 2019 feels quite classical in style but it feels even more refined with firm but fine tannins.

Vinous (94)

The 2015 Le Serre Nuove shows just how alluring this vintage is. Silky, perfumed and also wonderfully light on its feet, the 2015 is a real pleasure to taste today. All of the Ornellaia signatures come through in an attractive, mid-weight wine that will drink well right out of the gate. The 2015 is a stunning Serre Nuove. That's all there is to it.

James Suckling (94)

Appreciate the aromas of crushed stones and currants that follow through to a full body, velvety tannins and a juicy finish. Lots of dark-berry and walnut character in the aftertaste. Beautiful second wine of Ornellaia. Already very attractive, but better after 2022.

Vinous (93)

The 2018 Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia is everything a second wine should be. Open-knit and silky, with impeccable balance and tons of sheer appeal, the 2018 is exquisite today. I would prefer to drink it on the early side in order to capture all of its freshness. In some vintages, Le Serre Nuove can be a bit imposing; in 2018 is all charm and seduction.

James Suckling (95)

Currants, sweet tobacco, walnut husk and flowers on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied, it grows on the palate, with firm yet polished tannins and a flavorful finish. Very solid and well-crafted second wine from Ornellaia. Drink after 2023.

Wine Advocate (93)

The Ornellaia 2020 Bolgheri Rosso Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia (a proprietary blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot) is a generous and darkly toned red blend that has the extra fruit fiber, sweetness and generous plumpness of a warm vintage. The fullness of the fruit is on full display, but in a very relaxed and natural manner. The wine never feels like too much. The tannins are yielding and velvety, and this purebred Tuscan red wraps thickly over the palate. It's poised for near- and medium-term drinking.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2020 Paixar is the one wine from the portfolio that is completely different from the others and comes from high-altitude vineyards in the zone of Dragonte on slate soils. In 2020 and 2021 they used the whole field blend—reds and around 5% white grapes, which might have given it an extra spark of acidity. It matured in 5,000-liter oak vat and 500-liter oak barrels. It has a perfumed nose, elegant and floral, with good ripeness but without excess. It's finely textured with a chalky thread and great balance. It finishes long and dry. This is truly superb and should evolve nicely in bottle. It's now Vino de Paraje 'A Serra' in Dragonte, a parish of Corullón. 8,000 bottles were filled in November 2021.

Decanter World Wine Awards 2023 (97)

Our Best in Show journey across Northern Spain continues with a 2020 Bierzo, grown just across the provincial border from Galicia into Castilla y Léon. It’s another zone of steep slopes and old vines – the variety in this case being Mencia (known as Jaen in Portugal’s Dão region). This wine is deep black-red in colour and vivacious and urgent in aroma: wild plums mingled with the woodland scents of leaf, copse and forest floor. The palate is fruit-packed and vibrant, vigorous with an energy derived both from ripe acidity and fresh though smooth tannins; look out, too, for a stony, bitter-edged finish perhaps derived from the region’s slate soils. Wonderful drinking now in the flush of youth, but fruit of this quality will hold well for a few years yet.

James Suckling (97)

A tight and silky red with compacted fruit and tannin texture featuring blackcurrant, mushroom and bark undertones. Full body, firm tannins and a minerally finish. Excellent structure and mouthfeel. A cooler style of Ornellaia, bringing it back to the classicism of this celebrated region. Bordeaux blend. Better in 2018.

Vinous (98)

The 2015 Ornellaia is a dream wine with magnificent balance. All the elements are in the right place. In most vintages, Ornellaia needs time to fully come together, but the 2015 is just impeccable, even in the early going. The warm vintage notwithstanding, winemaker Axel Heinz crafted and Ornellaia is more about finesse and power. The potent, bruising tannins Ornellaia can show as a young wine are nowhere to be found. Bright raspberry jam, mint, white flowers and pomegranate are some of the many notes that punctuate the finish in a memorable Ornellaia that will go down among the great vintages produced at this reference-point estate.

Jeb Dunnuck (98+)

From a great vintage for Bolgheri, the 2016 Ornellaia is a classic blend of 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot that was aged 20 months in 70% new French oak. Its saturated purple color is followed by a deep, beautifully concentrated yet primordial effort that offers serious intensity in its cassis, black cherry, graphite, bay leaf, forest floor, and spring flower aromas and flavors. Full-bodied and multi-dimensional on the palate, it has thrilling purity of fruit, ample tannins, and a great, great finish. This is a tour de force in red wine that needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for two decades.

James Suckling (97)

A big, rich wine for the vintage, yet poised and lively with firm, chewy tannins that give form and intensity to the wine. It shows loads of blackberry, blackcurrant and walnut flavors. Ripe yet polished tannins. Give this three or four years to come together.

Vinous (97)

The 2018 Ornellaia is an introvert at this stage. Medium in body, with terrific persistence and impeccable balance, the 2018 is not in any mood to show all its cards today. Hints of red berry fruit, mocha, spice, licorice and dried flowers emerge with a bit of coaxing. I won’t be surprised to see it put on weight with more time in bottle. There is certainly plenty to look forward to. Readers should expect a silky, aromatic Ornellaia in line with vintages such as 2004 that are more about finesse than raw power. This is the first time in which Merlot drives the blend in Ornellaia.

Vinous (97)

The 2018 Ornellaia is an introvert at this stage. Medium in body, with terrific persistence and impeccable balance, the 2018 is not in any mood to show all its cards today. Hints of red berry fruit, mocha, spice, licorice and dried flowers emerge with a bit of coaxing. I won’t be surprised to see it put on weight with more time in bottle. There is certainly plenty to look forward to. Readers should expect a silky, aromatic Ornellaia in line with vintages such as 2004 that are more about finesse than raw power. This is the first time in which Merlot drives the blend in Ornellaia.

The Wine Independent (100)

The Ornellaia 2019 with 62% has the most Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend since the 65% used in the 2001 and 2002 vintages. It is bold and bright on the nose, full of joyful blackberry, cream, and sweet spice. It is very much like the 2016 Ornellaia in terms of finesse and harmony but bigger, bolder, more youthful, and maybe on a larger scale in terms of the brightness of aromas and flavors. On standing the nose becomes much more nuanced and fragrant with blue flowers like iris and violet. There is great concentration on the palate, but it is held together within a very elegant, tight structure. This is a powerful style of Ornellaia but with the 2019 the tannins are more refined than ever and there is a thrilling acidity enlivening the palate! According to Axel Heinz, Director of the Estate, "I think we have learned to tame the tannins.” This 2019 Ornellaia is a beautiful, luxurious, and vivacious wine.

The Wine Independent (100)

The Ornellaia 2019 with 62% has the most Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend since the 65% used in the 2001 and 2002 vintages. It is bold and bright on the nose, full of joyful blackberry, cream, and sweet spice. It is very much like the 2016 Ornellaia in terms of finesse and harmony but bigger, bolder, more youthful, and maybe on a larger scale in terms of the brightness of aromas and flavors. On standing the nose becomes much more nuanced and fragrant with blue flowers like iris and violet. There is great concentration on the palate, but it is held together within a very elegant, tight structure. This is a powerful style of Ornellaia but with the 2019 the tannins are more refined than ever and there is a thrilling acidity enlivening the palate! According to Axel Heinz, Director of the Estate, "I think we have learned to tame the tannins.” This 2019 Ornellaia is a beautiful, luxurious, and vivacious wine.

Matthew Jukes (20+)

An long-forgotten image flashed into my mind when I first tasted this wine. It took me back to a visit, as a child, to a stately home. Goodness knows where this place was, but I remember walking down a long corridor when a huge door opened to my left. As I walked past, I caught a glimpse of the most glamorous and beautifully decorated room beyond the person holding the door ajar. The door closed, and I passed by, but this image has stuck with me ever since. This momentary glimpse of incredible splendour is echoed in this magnificent wine. It starts midnight black in the glass, then as one focuses on the surface, can one see stars? Interestingly, it finishes black, too, in the form of ultra-fine sooty tannins that caress the taste buds as the flavour senesces. Between these two moments of perfect calm, there is layer upon layer of splendour and magnificence. The keyword for this vintage is ‘proportion’, as I found out half an hour through the presentation. It is an inspired choice because every element of 2020 Ornellaia is in scintillating proportion. 2020 Ornellaia represents more than harmony or balance and more than composure and equilibrium – it is truly in perfect proportion. In fact, I have never tasted a vintage of Ornellaia like it. There is a sense of greatness here, both in the intensity of the fruit and also its freshness and lift on the nose and palate – it is astonishing. The Cabernet theme (the blend is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot) is dominant both in the primary fruit notes but also in the signature flavours. Merlot adds glossiness and also traction, while Cabernet Franc appears to add grace and also crispness and aromatic flourishes. Petit Verdot acts as the invisible welds that pin this magnificent structure together – a complete three-dimensional flavour with no apparent flaws whatsoever. This wine will undoubtedly drink early in its life, given the silkiness and generosity on display, but it will not genuinely get into its stride for a decade, and I feel it will take another decade for it to blossom fully. My childlike fascination with today’s glimpse into the glass will no doubt grow into a full-blown stroll around this wine with the door flung open wide in years to come. This wine will prove to those with the good fortune to own it that its best is yet to come, so be patient in spite of its early allure. Until then, I do not doubt that it is a work of perfect proportion, so I am delighted to award it my first-ever perfect score for Ornellaia.

Wine Advocate (93)

The 2015 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is a dark, exuberant and opulent wine that is teeming with flavor, ripeness and extract. That said, there is also a note of impurity that I only really locked in on when I went back to taste the wine at different time intervals later in the day and the next. To be clear, it was there upon first examination, but then it blew off. And then it came back. That game of hide and seek proved distracting and puzzling. I wondered if it was cork or barrel, although it did not behave like any of those things, and my doubt is recorded by the question mark next to my score. Once you get past that little blemish, you are instantly aware of the beauty and depth of the vintage. The wine is savory in terms of aromas and sweet in terms of tannins. Cabernet Sauvignon flavors of dried blackberry, toasted espresso and cured tobacco play leading roles.

Vinous (96)

A heady, flamboyant wine, the 2016 Sondraia is simply magnificent. Super-ripe red cherry, plum, cedar, tobacco, mocha and licorice are some of the many notes that just soar out of the glass. Vibrancy and opulence come together in a stylish Bolgheri red that delivers the goods big time. The oak is perhaps a bit prominent, but everything about the 2016 works beautifully. This is a fabulous showing from Poggio al Tesoro.

Wine Advocate (93)

La Gundiñas is the wine that shows the most differences between 2017 and 2018. The 2017 La Vizcaína Las Gundiñas is dark and concentrated, a wine of sun, while the 2018 is delicate and feels like a mini Bonnes Mares! This is quite like a Cornas—meaty, juicy, a little reticent and powerful, with abundant tannins. This is one wine that behaves better in 2017 than in 2016. This is a plot that has ups and down; it might be more regular in the future, as they finally bought it in 2018. Some 5,500 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2019.

Wine Advocate (95)

The 2020 La Vizcaína La del Vivo is super harmonious, tasty and balanced. The wine matured in two 2,500-liter oak foudres, and a small part fermented and matured in amphorae with skins. It's varietal and expressive and comes from two plots, one with sandy soils and another one in Cacabelos with some boulders. There's always a small percentage of Doña Blanca in the blend. It's very dry and has a chalky texture. 6,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2021.

Wine Advocate (95)

I was impressed by the 2017 La Vizcaína El Rapolao, but the warm vintage was very good for a warmer vineyard like El Rapolao. This is hands-down my favorite of the 2017s from La Vizcaína, the wine that shows more freshness. It's harmonious and perhaps was harvested a little earlier than the others. Like the other wines from the range, this 2017 has more color than the 2018, as well as more power and a little more concentration, and it's also denser than the 2018, with tannins that are grittier and a little drier. But if I didn't have the 2018 next to this, I would only be praising it, because the 2017 is truly impressive, all in place and simply one step up in power and all the rest to keep the balance. 10,000 bottles were filled in May 2019. This is a late-budding vineyard, and it didn't suffer the effect of the spring hail from the year.

Wine Advocate (95)

Raúl Pérez has purchased the plot of El Rapolao that he uses for La Vizcaína, close to 1.3 hectares, and they expect the wine to have a big change as they are taking over the viticulture and want to lower yields. The 2019 La Vizcaína El Rapolao has plenty of tannin and is more concentrated than the 2020. 5,000 bottles produced.

Wine Advocate (96)

There is more freshness in the 2020 La Vizcaína El Rapolao, where I even found notes of eucalyptus. It's medium-bodied and has fine tannins, very tasty and balanced. There are two new plots in 2020, so they produced some 7,500 bottles. He wants to reach 20,000 bottles here, and there will be a white Rapolao from a plot that he planted with Godello.

Vinous (94)

Shimmering violet. Intensely perfumed aromas of dark berries, cherry pit, incense, exotic spices and pungent flowers, along with a smoky mineral flourish that builds in the glass. Densely packed and chewy on the palate, showing excellent depth and bright mineral lift to the sappy black and blue fruit, spicecake and violet pastille flavors. Gains energy with air and finishes impressively long and juicy, polished tannins building slowly and harmonizing with the wine's mineral-tinged fruit.

Wine Advocate (96)

The 2019 La Vizcaína La Vitoriana comes from sandy soils and mostly north-facing vines, delivering elegant and floral wines. It's very young and fruit-driven, perhaps not as complex as the 2020. All of these reds are around 13.5% alcohol, medium-bodied and quite harmonious. 2019 was one of the larger crops, and there are 7,000 bottles of this.