New Release: Ornellaia 2023
Secure the most affordable 98 point Ornellaia on the market, released today at just £848/6 ib, down from last year's £925/6 ib. The last time Ornellaia received 98 points was the 2016 vintage, which now trades at £975-£1,300/6 ib on Wine-Searcher.
We tasted the 2023 last week with Ornellaia’s Technical Director, Marco Balsimelli. It has the polish you would expect from Ornellaia but is imbued with a vibrant freshness and remarkable poise, offering vivid notes of wild blackberry, hints of violet, and a refined graphite undertone. On the palate, layers of ripe black cherry and savoury spice are balanced by bright acidity, giving it an elegant lift and a lingering, mineral-driven finish. It’s approachable enough to drink after only a year or two in the cellar, but it has the structure and pedigree to age for decades.
2023 Ornellaia, Bolgheri, Tuscany
The Ornellaia 2023 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot, and it is worth noting that Merlot remains present at nearly the same percentage as previous years, despite the greater challenges faced by early-ripening varieties in this mildew-prone vintage. Careful fruit selection made the difference. The wine shows impressive richness and concentration with a bouquet that leans botanical and complex, marked by dark fruit, Mediterranean thyme and rosemary. The nose was slightly closed when I tasted the wine, but it will open. The texture is velvety and polished, delivering beautiful richness with a sense of succulence that feels expansive on the palate. According to proprietor Lamberto Frescobaldi, the goal is to establish a clear through line focused on freshness and balancing fruit and spice while avoiding excess ripeness. This is a meticulously made Ornellaia that captures the vintage with remarkable elegance. The wine was bottled in July 2025 and is scheduled for release in March 2026. Drink 2027 – 2050.
98 Points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
A surprisingly lightweight and finessed Ornellaia – the first full vintage under the watchful gaze of ex-Bordeaux winemaker Marco Balsimelli. Rose and violet fragrance introduces crunchy hedgerow berry flavours kissed by menthol, cardamom, black pepper and petrichor. Breezy-fresh and with good intensity, it's a slender, vertical shape in the mouth, with fine, slightly firm but ripe tannins and lipsmacking sapidity. Balsimelli notes that the sandy soils helped the plentiful spring rains to drain, and once past the threat of disease the water reserves proved useful for the hot summer. There was some rain in late August, while September featured cool nights, preserving aromatics and ensuring perfect ripening for all the estate's varieties. 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. Drink 2026 – 2051.
96 Points, James Button, Decanter Magazine
£848 6 bottle c/s In Bond
£330 1 magnum c/s In Bond
£690 1 double magnum c/s In Bond
£995 12 half bottle c/s In Bond
2023 Ornellaia Bianco, Bolgheri, Tuscany
Made with Sauvignon Blanc, the 2023 Bolgheri Bianco Ornellaia shows a softer more cushiony profile than recent editions. The Sauvignon Blanc is sourced primarily from the Bellaria vineyard at 130 meters in elevation. Parcel selection played a key role in 2023, with Poggio alle Gazze dell'Ornellaia showing more exotic fruit, and the estate choose to emphasize a distinctly Mediterranean expression with riper yellow fruit tones for this wine. Fermentation is carried out with great precision with strict protection from oxygen, followed by time in barrique, with about 30% new French oak, tonneaux and amphorae. The wine ages for 10 months on the fine lees with daily bâtonnage at first, then gradually reduced. This vintage outperforms the 2022 in terms of length and polish, offering notes of white pepper, ginger, lemon peel, exotic flower and spice. This wine is scheduled for release in March 2026. Drink 2026 – 2038.
94 Points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
Ornellaia owns 13 hectares of white varieties, and this 100% Sauvignon Blanc is sourced from the prime Bellaria vineyard at around 100 metres above sea level on limestone soils. ‘An original expression of this grape variety’, is how Marco Balsimelli describes it. Well balanced and very fresh, it has good body and plenty of energy, with ripe notes of guava, apricot and mango. The oak vinification with batonnage lends a creamy tone and texture but it remains poised throughout, with a sapid, mineral finish. Drink 2026 – 2034.
95 Points, James Button, Decanter Magazine
£480 6 bottle c/s In Bond
£330 1 magnum c/s In Bond
