Ornellaia Bolgheri Rosso Superiore 2022
For 700 years the Frescobaldi family has combined tradition, experience and innovation with creativity and the pursuit of excellence. The family has always looked to develop and celebrate the diversity of Tuscany’s terroir, being proud owners of some of the greatest vineyards in this region.
They always seek to maintain the identity and autonomy of each property.
ORNELLAIA, perceived as one of the world’s iconic wineries, has flourished under the Frescobaldi family’s ownership. It is just one of the estates owned by the family alongside ATTEMS (Friuli), MASSETO, DANZANTE, LUCE DELLA VITE and the six FRESCOBALDI Estates, Nipozzano, CastelGiocondo, Pomino, Ammiraglia, Castiglioni and Remole.
Ornellaia 2022 shows an expressive bouquet of black fruit, with a touch of vanilla and tobacco. Such aromatic complexity shows on the palate where the wine proves expansive and generous. A powerful tannic structure carries it towards a savoury and enduring finish. Although the 2022 vintage was marked by long hot spells, Ornellaia is once again marked by elegance and vibrancy.
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, 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.
99 Points, Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com: "One of the few 2022 Tuscan wines where you can really see that this will benefit from a few years in bottle, right now it is, hovering on the edge of something delicious, vibrating over the tannic architecture, feathered, campfire smoke, fennel, blackberry, liquorice and crushed peonies, and the bitter fennel and slate scrape, dense, contrast of textures and flavours like only truly great wines can do, a reflection of skilful construction. A gorgeous wine, slowly stretching out in the palate, 65% new oak for ageing. Harvest began August 9 for the whites, and the reds began August 25 with Masseto, and then a few days later for Ornellaia, one of the earliest on record, with around 38hl/h yield..." 02/14/25
97 Points, Monica Larner, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "Tasted a few months after it was bottled, the Ornellaia 2022 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia will be coming to market in March 2025. The blend is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. The wine sees 18 months of aging with up to 70% new oak, but the trick, proprietor Lamberto Frescobaldi tells me, is drawing from a large group of coopers with different toast levels and forests. "I don't want to make a wine of any one tonnellerie," he says. The oak element is crucial to the identity of this wine that reveals dark fruit, blackberry, sweet spice and cinnamon. Most of the vines were planted in the 1980s, and the average age of the plants is over 20 years old. Fruit comes from many parcels, including Bellaria, Bellaria Nuova, Bellaria Alta, Pero, Fosso, Vigna Vecchia and Stallina. Indeed, some 80 wines are made before final blending. The 2022 vintage will be remembered for its full-bodied appeal, concentrated fruit and generous oak renderings. Petit Verdot plays a slightly larger role in this vintage and was one of the surprise hits of 2022. It serves to elongate the wine and adds to its length. The wine's abundant fruit weight cedes to elegantly integrated tannins. This vintage will appeal to die-hard Ornellaia enthusiasts." 02/25
96+ Points, Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com: “The 2022 Ornellaia is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 10% each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. A deep but bright purple/red color, it has a fantastic nose of blackberries, polished cedar, lavender, sweet herbs, and dark cocoa. Full-bodied, it has a rich structure, with warming concentration but a very balanced feel. The tannins are ripe and frame the underlying mineral notes very nicely, its fruity richness fleshing it out harmoniously. It is not a fruity vintage for this wine, though, and its structure leads here. Drink 2027-2050…” 03/18/25
Sustainable viticulture is an integral part of our production philosophy and is based on the economic longevity of structures and territories, the qualitative production and the enhancement of the heritage and landscape of the Bolgheri area along with its historical, cultural and ecological aspects. At Ornellaia, the concept of environmental sustainability, understood as the use of the soil’s natural fertility, can be identified in various practices and limited measures implemented in our vineyards, with the aim of promoting the biodiversity of the species cultivated. These include the protective management of the soil to maintain its integrity and fertility, management of the plant to achieve self-regulation and the adoption of defence systems with a low environmental impact that stimulate the vine’s natural defences. Minimising interventions and external inputs both in the vineyard and in the cellar makes it possible to bring out the “terroir” and the capacity for expression of every single vineyard. All this is possible thanks to a human heritage of inestimable importance, which grows every day thanks to the encouragement and appropriate training of in-house staff.
