Tenuta dell'Ornellaia : Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia 2024

Characteristics and tasting notes for Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia 2024 from Tenuta dell'Ornellaia

Tasting

Appearance
The 2024 vintage reveals a deep colour, enhanced by delicate purple highlights.

Nose
Particularly expressive and generous, the bouquet opens with aromas of red fruit such as redcurrant and raspberry, interwoven with hints of black cherry. It then gains complexity with floral touches of dried lavender, herbaceous notes of sage, and spicy, toasty and balsamic accents reminiscent of eucalyptus and clove.

Palate
This bright, charming wine offers a full attack and lovely vibrancy. Its pronounced freshness supports a harmonious, muscular structure. The tannins are at once firm, grainy and velvety, leading to a flavourful, tight-knit finish with long-lasting fruit.

Food and wine pairings

This cuvée pairs beautifully with roasted or grilled red meats, such as rib of beef or a herb-crusted rack of lamb. It will also elevate slow-cooked dishes with Mediterranean accents, game dishes served with rich reduced sauces, and long-aged hard cheeses.

Serving and cellaring

With its fine structure, Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia 2024 can be enjoyed in its youth, yet also has the ageing potential to be cellared and enjoyed until around 2034.

A great Tuscan red wine of breadth and remarkable precision

The estate

Founded in 1981 by Marchese Lodovico Antinori, Tenuta dell'Ornellaia lies on the coast of Tuscany. This estate of around 97 hectares quickly established itself as a benchmark for great Bordeaux-inspired wines in Italy. Today, the property is wholly owned by the Frescobaldi family, who continue its pursuit of excellence through integrated, sustainable viticulture. A prestigious name with international renown, the estate masterfully combines the maritime influence of its terroir with the nobility of its grape varieties to craft cuvées of remarkable precision.

The vineyard

The vines used for this cuvée come mainly from the estate's youngest plots, located in the heart of the Bolgheri area. The terroir enjoys a Mediterranean climate tempered by breezes from the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea. The vines grow at low altitude on gently sloping hillsides, their roots delving into a mosaic of free-draining soils made up of stony limestone, sand, silt and clay. The vineyard is managed according to the principles of integrated viticulture, encouraging natural grass cover and organic fertilisation.

The vintage

2024 stood out as an early-ripening year. A mild, wet winter gave the vine cycle an excellent start, supported by regular rainfall. From late June, warm, sunny weather set in, promoting optimal ripening. Veraison took place at the end of July in ideal conditions. In mid-August, a few localised storms brought much-needed moisture ahead of the harvest in September, which benefited from alternating sunshine, cool spells and light rain.

Winemaking and ageing

The grapes are hand-picked into small crates before undergoing a double manual sorting followed by optical sorting. After gentle pressing, each grape variety and each plot is vinified separately. Alcoholic fermentation takes place at 22–26°C in stainless steel and concrete vats for around ten days, followed by 10 to 15 days of maceration. Malolactic fermentation is carried out partly in vats and partly in barrels. Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia 2024 is aged for 15 months in French oak barrels (30% new and 70% previously used for one or two wines). The blend of this Italian wine is assembled after eight months, before returning to barrel for a further seven months, followed by six months of bottle ageing prior to release.

Grape varieties

49% Merlot
21% Cabernet Sauvignon
17% Petit Verdot
13% Cabernet Franc