Wines from Tuscany | Bolgheri

In the hot, challenging summers of the climate change era, Messorio proves its exceptional class. The 2020 vintage masterfully navigated through a difficult growing season and shows why Cinzia Merli's flagship is now one of the world's best Merlot interpretations. Only around 11,000 bottles of this rarity are produced from the Vignone (1999) and the younger Ulivino (2016) vineyards with the most rigorous yield reductions. The 18-month maturation in 100% French oak, 5% of which is in amphorae, creates an exceptional balance between power and refinement.

The name Messorio carries the memory of the time when the wheat harvest marked the most important moment in the Tuscan agricultural year. Today it stands for one of the most extraordinary Merlots in the world. What began in 1994 as Eugenio Campolmi's personal challenge to an often underestimated grape variety developed into the crown jewel of Le Macchiole. The 2021 vintage benefited from ideal climatic conditions in Bolgheri: a long, dry summer with cool nights allowed for homogeneous ripening and created the remarkable balance between sugar, acidity and tannins that makes Messorio an exceptional Merlot. The early manual harvest between the first and second week of September produced grapes of exceptional aromatic intensity. The 30-day fermentation in natural cement columns, followed by 16 months of ageing in new barrels, 12 hl vats and ceramic amphorae, created a texture of exceptional suppleness.

In 1994, Eugenio Campolmi made a decision that sounded like a declaration of war. Merlot – one of the most widely planted grape varieties in Bolgheri and on the Tuscan coast, the most widely planted in the world – was to become a wine that was as far removed as possible from everything that Merlot normally means: pleasing, soft, predictable. "A thoroughbred that wants to win the race" is how the house describes its goal to this day. The name – messorio, Tuscan for the wheat harvest, once the most important moment of the farming year – has become a metaphor for what the grape harvest can be: a moment that decides everything.

Michele Satta is one of Italy's greatest ambassadors for the Viognier grape, which he has almost single-handedly brought to this part of the Tuscan coast. His Viognier is sophisticated and seductive, making it the object of desire for wine lovers all over the world. Its inimitable bouquet of apricot and peach exudes an almost cheerful floweriness. Maturation in a combination of cement, oak and amphorae gives this expressive, flavoursome white wine a beautiful note. A dense white wine that spreads softly across the palate with a lovely salty freshness and a long, delicious finish. From the 2024 vintage, it is a 100% Bianco from the Bolgheri DOC. SUPERIORE.DE

Curtain up on a truly grand Bolgheri debut: Barinca is a single-varietal Cabernet Franc that thrives on the limestone- and gravel-rich hills north of Bolgheri – right between its renowned neighbours, Ornellaia and Tenuta San Guido. Under the guidance of Conte Federico Zileri dal Verme, the 30th generation of the Gherardesca family, the grapes are harvested by hand in mid-September, destemmed and fermented spontaneously in open wooden vats in the historic vaulted cellar. Following malolactic fermentation, the wine matures for 18 months inLiters and large 35hl oak casks, before being bottled in a strictly limited edition of 2,400 bottles and 200 magnums and left to age in the bottle until release.

Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore 2021 is a wine of extreme precision. It offers well-proportioned power and depth with profound layers of black fruit, coffee and liquorice. It captivates with its lustre and polished texture, which merges into great richness, concentration and structure. Enveloping as it progresses with sweet dark fruits and dark spices that linger for a long time. Ornellaia 2021 is a wonderful, if not perfect, example of the impressive potential of this great Tuscan vintage! SUPERIORE.DE

There are wines whose mere name gives you goose bumps. Ornellaia belongs to that rare category of growths that not only epitomise Italian iconography, but have also written global wine history. Ever since the legendary 1985 vintage, when Marchese Lodovico Antinori and visionary OenologistAndré Tchelistcheff realised the dream of a Mediterranean Bordeaux, this name has stood for uncompromising excellence. The 2022 vintage bears the motto "La Determinazione" – determination – and this characterisation could not be more apt for a vintage that demanded everything from both the vineyard team and the vines. The climatic conditions in 2022 presented a textbook challenge: The driest start to the vintage in the last four years, from February to June, coincided with the hottest period between May and September. Extremes that initially seemed to contradict each other. The prolonged drought slowed growth dramatically, leading to low yields and concentrated, small-berried grapes. But then came the saving rain in August and September – precisely timed to restore the balance that characterises great wines. The technical team, led at the time by Axel Heinz and Oenologist Olga Fusari, responded with rigorous selection: in the vineyard and twice again in the cellar. The result of this determination is a wine that combines the positive attributes of the sun with surprising freshness.

Tenuta dell'Ornellaia has a distinctive feature that few other estates in the world possess: it renames its flagship wine every year. Not simply with the vintage, but with a feeling. Since 2006, each harvest has been assigned a term – precise, poetic, and inevitably apt. In 2023, the word is: "La Vitalità". And in this vintage, it describes not only the wine, but the beginning of a new chapter. For Marco Balsimelli, director since January 2024, who trained at Boissenot and at Gruaud-Larose in Bordeaux, took the helm at Ornellaia in the very winter when the 2023 vintage was still ageing in the barrels. It was his first complete vintage – from the selection of the plots through to the blending and bottling. A debut under the watchful eye of the wine world. And the result proves him right.

Ornellaia has always sought more. More depth in its red wine, more expression of the terroir, more precision in its selection. But at some point, the question arose: what if all this were translated into a white wine? A white wine from Bolgheri, that coastal region which taught the world that Tuscany is more than just Sangiovese? Ornellaia Bianco is the answer. "Italy's most ambitious white wine", according to the estate itself. No modest claim. Sauvignon Blanc, exclusively. Three small plots in Bellaria, north-facing – an unusual choice in a Mediterranean climate. The cool aspect protects the aromas, prolongs ripening and preserves the freshness that distinguishes a great white wine from a merely pleasant one. Sandy loam soils on limestone, 130 metres above sea level. 13 hectares of white wine in a winery that focuses on 80 hectares of red.

"The dynamic vintage produced rich and structured wines, with each of the grape varieties expressing their particular qualities. We got a classic Ornellaia, combining sunny ripeness with elegance in a wine defined by harmony and proportion." Axel Heinz, Gutsdirektor

It was 1991 when Michele Satta planted his first Syrah vine in Bolgheri – an act of rebellion in a still young appellation that was just beginning to find its identity. The visionary winemaker from Varese followed a clear conviction: The Syrah should maximise the aromatic complexity of the Mediterranean terroir and at the same time express his personal identification with the great wines of the Rhône. Thirty years later, this exotic wine has matured into one of Bolgheri's most fascinating single-vineyard wines.

"In 2012, I bought the small vineyard Le Gonnare and began to cultivate it. It represents the excellence of the Bolgheri terroir. The soil is clayey and rich in skeleton, which allows for very gradual ripening, a particularly important aspect for Merlot. The character of the wine is therefore Mediterranean, but balanced." Fabio Motta

Every year, the release of the strictly limited artist's edition of Tenuta dell'Ornellaia is a special treat. Today, too, we are pleased to be able to offer you some copies of the latest and 15th edition "La Proporzione" exclusively as a 0.75l single bottle. The original wooden box with 6 bottles contains only one bottle of this sought-after collector's item.

The spectacular "Vendemmia d'Artista" artists' edition has been running since 2006. Every year, renowned artists are invited to design a small series of individual and large bottles of the world-famous Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore and create an artistic world around this fine wine. It is not a matter of course that we are once again able to offer you some examples of the rare 16th edition of the Ornellaia Vendemmia d'Artista 2021 in the 0.75-litre bottle this year. As usual, this special edition is rare and sought-after, as there is only one bottle of this limited collector's item in each 6-bottle wooden crate.

It was Eugenio Campolmi who, in 1989, plucked up the courage to give his flagship the name of a wild herb that grows on the Tuscan coast. Eugenio Campolmi (†2002) was not originally from the world of wine. He came from a family of restaurateurs and was supposed to take over his parents' restaurant and trading business. Instead, he and his wife Cinzia Merli took a bold leap into the unknown in 1983. Paleo – a name that stands for unbending identity and the will to achieve any goal. What began as a classic Bordeaux blend found its true destiny in 2001: 100% Cabernet Franc, a revolution in the still young Bolgheri.

In 1944, Mario Incisa della Rocchetta planted the first Cabernet Sauvignon vines in the Maremma on a one-hectare plot at the highest point of the estate, in Castiglioncello di Bolgheri. It was a private experiment, intended for the family and friends. Until 1967, Sassicaia was enjoyed at the Incisas' dining table. Then, in 1968, the first vintage was released onto the market – appearing in 1971 as a "Vino da Tavola". The rest is history. And not just the history of the Tenuta, but the history of Italian wine as a whole. At a blind tasting in London in 1978 – featuring 33 Cabernet wines from around the world – the 1972 Sassicaia emerged victorious. And Luigi Veronelli was the first to recognise the greatness of this wine. In 1994, Bolgheri was granted DOC status for red wines. And in 2013, the Bolgheri Sassicaia DOC was established: the only Denominazione d'Origine in Italy that is exclusively and irrevocably reserved for a single estate.

"Sassicaia really was our house wine back then," says Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta, daughter of the president of San Guido, Marquis Nicolò Incisa della Rocchetta. "It was more of a wine experiment that was only tested within the family and among friends, until we went on the market for the first time with the 1968 vintage. Today, this wine is all about elegance and balance. We like this style, which is not so much about the body. Sassicaia is a good representative of what we want to convey as a style."

It is by no means a given that we will once again be able to offer you a few bottles of the rare 18th edition of the Ornellaia "Vendemmia d'Artista" 2023 in 0.75-litre bottles this year. As usual, this special edition is rare and highly sought-after, as each wooden case of six contains just one bottle of this limited-edition collector's item.

Here is arguably one of Italy's finest Cabernet Francs: bluish hues mingle with ruby red. The deep bouquet offers blackberries and hints of roasted coffee, followed as the wine opens up by notes of sea scrub, balsamic and minty notes. On the palate, full-bodied and silky tannins with hints of violets and mint, offering flavour and freshness. All this is underpinned by a refined elegance that carries through to a harmonious and lingering finish. SUPERIORE.DE

From the oldest Merlot plot in the Le Sondraie vineyards comes Bell'Aja’s flagship wine – a wine that impressively demonstrates the ambition of the San Felice project in Bolgheri. Since 2016, this estate has rounded off the historic group’s interpretation of Tuscan wine: from the hills of Chianti Classico, through the prestigious vineyards of Montalcino, to this shining jewel on the Etruscan coast. Bell’Aja Superiore embodies the pure essence of a unique terroir: 95% Merlot from the estate’s most venerable vines blends with 5% Cabernet Sauvignon to create a wine of impressive power and opulence. The sandy-clay soils of the Le Sondraie area, just five kilometres from the Tyrrhenian Sea, lend this Bordeaux-inspired blend the maritime minerality that makes Bolgheri one of the most fascinating terroirs in the wine world.

San Walfredo – a Merlot that breathes history. Named after the Antinori family saint, this Bolgheri Superiore not only stands for excellence, but also for a conscious pause in the flow of modernity. The grapes come from a single plot, from an old, gravel-rich strip of alluvial soil near the sea. The combination of intense sunshine, good aeration and broodingsoils produces grapes of rare concentration and balance. The 2019 vintage got off to a cool start with late budding and an ideal growing season. September brought warm days and cool nights – perfect conditions for a balance of ripeness and freshness. The grapes were harvested exclusively by hand, plot by plot. Fermentation took place in conical stainless steel tanks, with a long maceration period, followed by 18 months of maturation in new French barriques and subsequent rest in the bottle.

Deep ruby red, intense, fresh aroma of dark fruit underpinned with delicate toasted aromas. Complex and full-bodied on the palate, with balsamic notes, perfectly integrated tannins and a finely balanced fruity-spicy finish. An intense wine that also doesn't want to be a lightweight and that plays off its power perfectly. SUPERIORE.DE

Ventaglio. A plot of just one hectare whose rows of vines unfold in a fan shape around a centuries-old holm oak with a magnificent crown, while ash, alder and field elm trees form the natural boundaries of this unique amphitheatre. Here, 120 metres above sea level, not far from the hills of Donoratico, the red sandy soils of the coast give way to calcareous clay soils with the characteristic stony skeleton of alluvial origin. Since 2015, Ventaglio has been the Tenuta's first single vineyard and represents a visionary project: exploring the full potential of Cabernet Franc in Bolgheri. Only vinified in exceptional vintages, a limited edition of 2,700 bottles of a wine is produced that forever redefines the boundaries between Bordeaux noblesse and Tuscan terroir authenticity.