Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove 2017 6L Imperial

An integrated, ripe red with currant, berry and light tobacco character. Medium to full body, silky tannins and a flavorful finish. Second wine of Ornellaia. Lovely now, but better in a year or two. Try after 2021.

Deep, dark garnet color; plum appears on the plush nose before it joins blackberry on the smooth and rich palate. Luscious and fresh, it’s an exceptional value—a chip off the old block.

The Ornellaia 2017 Bolgheri Rosso Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia is a real charmer of a wine with a sweet, soft and supple disposition. The exact blend is 54% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc and 6% Petit Verdot. Fermentation starts in stainless steel, and the wine is then racked over to barrique to complete malolactic fermentation. It ages in oak for 15 months. Production is large, with some 250,000 bottles released in September 2019. The whole entire presentation here is seamless, from start to finish, with dark fruit and cherry slowly folding into leather, spice and pipe tobacco. Fruit was denser and more compact in this hot and dry vintage, and you absolutely feel that extra richness and concentration. I recommend another quick two years of aging to relax the wine's tannins that are extra tight in 2017.

The ripe plum, cherry, black currant, licorice and iron aromas and flavors are enticing in this youthful red. Solid and intense, yet never heavy, delivering harmony and extending nicely on the wild herb- and tobacco-tinged aftertaste. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2021 through 2030.

A blend of 54% Merlot, 26% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot aged 15 months in French oak, the 2017 Le Serre Nuove Dell'Ornellaia shows the warmth of the vintage in its upfront, beautiful perfume of sweet red and black fruits as well as notes of spice, chocolate, loamy earth, and new leather. Just about seamless on the palate, it doesn't have the structure or depth of its big brother, but wow, it's just a joy to drink. It should continue showing well for a solid 10-12 years.

A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this opens with aromas of violet, tobacco and green peppercorn. The savory, youthfully tense palate offers black plum, licorice, toasted oak and mocha alongside finegrained tannins.