ORNELLAIA 2013 “L’ELEGANZA”
- 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
45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot
“What appeared to be a disadvantage for the 2013 vintage – late budding and flowering – proved to be a major advantage
thanks to a warm summer and month of September offering textbook conditions for harvesting, with cool temperatures but a
prevalence of sunny weather. This resulted in slow but complete ripening with great balance and a delightful aromatic
quality, which we like to define as “Elegance”. Ornellaia 2013, with its dense, vibrant colour, has a nose of splendid
aromatic complexity built around a limpid and brilliant fruitiness, underscored by refined spicy and balsamic notes. The
mouth develops vibrant and complex fruity nuances framed by a dense, slender structure with tannins that attain a rare
harmony between firmness and fleshiness, concluding with a long balanced and fresh finish.”
Axel Heinz - May 2015

THE 2013 GROWING SEASON
After a dry 2012, winter 2013 was characterised by mild but very rainy weather, which caused a delay in
budding of up to 15 days. The cold and rain also led to irregular and very long flowering – with a two-week
delay compared to the average – which reduced production and resulted in uncoordinated development of
clusters. Fortunately the summer, which arrived punctually at the end of June, was perfect, dry and sunny, but
with a few peaks of intense heat in July and August. The slow vegetative development was ultimately beneficial
because it deferred ripening until after the hottest period. The storms of August significantly lowered the
temperatures, especially at night, which favoured aromatic expression, but led to a later than average harvest,
between 9 September and 14 October, with mainly sunny weather without excessive heat.

VINIFICATION AND AGEING
The clusters were hand-picked into 15-kg boxes and then selected by hand on a double sorting table, before
and after destemming, and finally softly crushed. Each grape variety and single vineyard block was vinified
separately. Fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks at temperatures between 26-30°C for two week,
followed by 10-15 days of maceration on the skins. The malolactic fermentation took place mainly in oak
barrels, 70% new and 30% once-used. The wine then remained in barriques, in Ornellaia’s temperaturecontrolled 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.