ORNELLAIA 2019 ‘IL VIGORE’ - BOLGHERI DOC SUPERIORE
The desire to nurture the estate’s exceptional qualities has shaped Ornellaia’s philosophy since the beginning. Ornellaia is a cuvée of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc & Petit Verdot and the faithful expression of unique terroir developed in harmony with nature.
WINEMAKER'S TASTING NOTES
62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc
“With an intense ruby-red colour, Ornellaia 2019 has a bouquet full of intriguing spicy and balsamic notes, including aromas of black pepper, sage and aromatic herbs. The wine is both full-bodied and vibrant in the mouth, filling the palate with its dense and elegant tannic texture and ending with a persistent and beautifully crisp finish."
Olga Fusari - Winemaker - July 2021
THE CLIMATE OF 2019
More than most vintages, 2019 was characterized by a highly variable climate, which alternated periods of cold and rain with long bouts of drought and heat. After a normal winter, the budding took place in the first week of April. The cold and rainy conditions throughout April and May significantly slowed down the vegetative vine growth, leading to a 10-day delay in flowering compared to the average. Very hot, rainless weather suddenly arrived in June, reaching temperature peaks of 37°C at the end of the month. The weather stayed warm and sunny throughout the summer with temperatures 2°C above average and 45 consecutive days without rain. The long dry period was interrupted by two days of rain in the last week of July, bringing the temperature back to the seasonal norm, with ideal conditions for ripening. The harvest began slowly on 5th September. As usual, the last week of September saw a lowering of temperatures which made it possible to preserve a great finesse and aromatic freshness. Sunny conditions returned after another rainy event on 21st September, which allowed us to conclude the harvest of the later ripening varieties on 4th October.
VINIFICATION AND AGEING
The clusters were hand-picked into 15 kg crates and then selected by hand on a double sorting table, before and after destemming, and then softly crushed. In 2016, optical sorting has been introduced in addition to manual selection, in order to further increase the quality of selection. Each grape variety and single vineyard block were vinified separately. Fermentation took place in stainless steel and concrete tanks at temperatures between 26 and 30°C for one week, followed by maceration for about 15 days, for a total time in the vat of about three weeks. The malolactic fermentation took place mainly in oak barrels, 70% new and 30% used once. The wine then remained in barriques, in Ornellaia’s temperature-controlled cellars for about 18 months. After the first 12 months of maturation, the wine was assembled and then returned to the barriques for an additional 6 months. After bottling, the wine aged a further 12 months prior to release.
Axel Heinz - Estate Director
Vendemmia d'Artista
ORNELLAIA 2019. IL VIGORE
NATHALIE DJURBERG AND HANS BERG
Artists Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg were invited to interpret the character of the 2019 vintage for the Vendemmia d’Artista project. In addition to creating a site-specific work, they styled a series of large-format bottles with their art. Furthermore, for the Bordeaux bottle, the artists designed a limited-edition label alongside the traditional label. One “Il Vigore” artistic label can be found in every case containing six 750ml bottles of Ornellaia 2019.
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