2018 Ornellaia DOC

97 POINTS

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

A wonderfully scented bouquet with flowers, especially violets, herbs and various red fruits, smoky-bacon from the oak, while the palate is very intense and focused, with terrific concentration and gravitas. It has tremendous vitality, line and seemingly endless length, as well as silky tannins. There's a litle of the cherry jam and eau de vie of the 2017, but a more Bordeaux-like shape. An outstanding wine. (51% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, 7% cabernet franc, 2% petit verdot. Aged 18 months in Bordeaux barriques, 70% new, 30% one year old)

97 POINTS

Georgina Hindle - Decanter

This is such a charismatic wine, abundant and packed full of flavour while refined and precise. The palate has barely-there tannins that glide across the tongue underpinned by milk chocolate, leather, almost-sour cherries, blackcurrants and liquorice spicing. Freshness and persistence balanced by density and silkiness. Fermentation in oak barrels 70% new and 30% once used, then transferred to barriques for 18 months. After the first 12 months of maturation the wine is assembled and returned to barriques for an additional 6 months before being bottled and aged again for 12 months prior to release. A blend of 51% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.

97 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

The 2018 Ornellaia is an introvert at this stage. Medium in body, with terrific persistence and impeccable balance, the 2018 is not in any mood to show all its cards today. Hints of red berry fruit, mocha, spice, licorice and dried flowers emerge with a bit of coaxing. I won’t be surprised to see it put on weight with more time in bottle. There is certainly plenty to look forward to. Readers should expect a silky, aromatic Ornellaia in line with vintages such as 2004 that are more about finesse than raw power. This is the first time in which Merlot drives the blend in Ornellaia.

96 POINTS

Monty Waldin - Decanter

Ornellaia 2018 is appealingly gentle now, but its tannin quality and fruit clarity suggest it has the attributes for greatness over the next 15 years or more. It is also notable for its unusually high Merlot content at 51% (with 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot). The Merlot benefitted, it seems, from 2018's alternate bouts of hot, sunny weather interspersed with reviving showers. A fruit-packed Ornellaia with bright flavours and a moreish, silky-smooth and sophisticated texture allied to a potentially wide drinking window.

95 POINTS

Wine Spectator

Complex, sophisticated and harmonious, this pure red is marked by black currant, black cherry, cedar, iron and light spice flavors. Bright and focused, with refined tannins emerging on the spice-tinged finish. Discreet and stylish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2023 through 2040. 1,500 cases imported.

95 POINTS

Monica Larner - Wine Advocate

The 2018 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is complete and seamlessly stitched together with extreme care and precision. This is an almost technical blend of Merlot (at 50% of the blend for the first time), 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot that offers a true sense of wholeness and consistency that speaks to the blending expertise and experience of the winemaking team. Finding harmony among the various vinous components of the wine was especially important in this vintage that prized early-ripening grapes like Merlot over the others. Blackberry and dried cherry segue to spice, tar, campfire ash and more sweet fruit. We're off to a great start, and this vintage of Ornellaia is surely destined to flesh out and grow more complex with age.

95 POINTS

Aldo Fiordelli - Decanter

Always an example of powerful wine not without grace, this year Ornellaia seems to be a graceful wine not without power. Intensely floral, with buttery notes, restrained cassis and depth of helichrysum and myrtle. Open-knit yet with balsamic notes, this 2018 vintage is ripe and smooth, with lighter extraction (a trend started in 2013) and moderate acidity. The red grape harvest began on the 31st of August with the Merlot and ended on the 8th of October with the later-ripening varieties.

94 POINTS

Antonio Galloni MW - Vinous

The 2018 Ornellaia is silky, polished and super-sophisticated in its bearing. A slightly higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon gives the 2018 striking aromatic presence that matches its mid-weight personality so well. Sweet red cherry, red plum, mocha, leather, spice and cedar open up with a bit of coaxing, but more than anything else, the 2018 is a wine of poise and refinement.