2021 Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia Bolgheri Rosso Tuscany 750 ml

Ornellaia is “Italy’s First Growth,” and it makes even the toughest critics go weak at the knees. Antonio Galloni of Vinous wrote that their wines “have never failed to literally send shivers down my spine.”  

In 1997, Ornellaia put out their first vintage of Le Serre Nuove. Made from the same estate vineyards by the same extraordinary winemaking team, it’s technically Ornellaia’s second wine—but if a Super Tuscan of this quality came from another estate, we’d simply call it a competitor. And boasting a 95-point score from Wine Enthusiast, the 2021 might just be the best edition yet. 

A blend of Merlot, Cabernet, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot grown in what Wine Searcher called a “perfectly formed” vintage, this is a fantastic version of a wine with a history of outscoring comparable reds from Grand Cru Classé estates like Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Haut Brion. 

Located south of the famed cypress-lined avenue of Bolgheri, the Ornellaia estate drips with pedigree. The original Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc vines here were planted by the legendary Russian-born enologist André Tchelistcheff, who told then-owner Lodovico Antinori that the property was a viticultural “El Dorado.” Today, the wines are made by Olga Fusari, who for years worked alongside the renowned Axel Heinz—“one of the world’s most in-demand winemakers,” according to Galloni. For Le Serre Nuove, Fusari selects fruit from younger vines and leans more on Merlot, resulting in a fresher, more elegant profile that drinks beautifully out of the gate. 

After three more months in bottle, this is a Super Tuscan that refuses to be outshined by any other—no matter the price, no matter the estate.