My Article: Tuscany's Ornellaia Makes Stunning New White

Ornellaia is a legend among wine lovers around the world. The Tuscan wine estate, with its Bordeaux blend under its name and pure merlot called Masseto, makes some of the most collectible wines available. Now the winery, located in the Tuscan costal region of Bolgheri, hopes to add to the legend with a white made from three small vineyards in the appellation from mostly sauvignon blanc and viognier with a touch of sauvignon gris. 

“Why not do a serious white at Ornellaia?” said winemaker Axel Heinz of Ornellaia yesterday when I tasted the wine with him. “It was a spontaneous decision.”

Yet perfecting the wine took some time. It all began about seven years ago with plantings. Ornellaia already made a crisp, pure sauvignon blanc called Poggio Alle Gazze. But Axel and his team at Ornellaia thought they could do better. He admitted to looking to California for direction for warmer-growing area whites. And the sauvignon/viognier combination seemed right for Bolgheri, especially after tasting such whites from Napa Valley as that from Araujo Estate.

Ornellaia’s first serious white is already the best dry white from Tuscany I have ever tasted (that’s not saying much due to the lack of effort with white winemaking until recently). I wrote in the tasting note below that reviewing the Ornellaia Toscana Bianco 2013 is like drinking a glass of Bordeaux’s legendary dry white Domaine de Chevalier and a glass of the great Hermitage blanc from Jean-Louis Chave at the same time. Check out the tasting note if you are a subscriber. The white has been barrel fermented and aged in barrel for about a year (not all new) but the wood character is not overpowering and the white shows complex bright fruit and structure. 

2013 Ornellaia Toscana Bianco (click for note and score)

The white is expected to be released on the market this fall. The price should be about the same as Ornellaia red. The most recent vintage of Ornellaia, 2012, sells for about $150 a bottle.

Photo 1: Vineyard of sauvginon blanc in the site of Bellaria at Ornellaia. Photo 2: A line of viognier begins at the Ornellaia vineyard for new wines. Photo 3: One of three vineyards for the new Ornellaia white. Photo 4: Ornellaia winemaker Axel Heinz is convinced of the new great white at his estate.