Arranged by Peter Maude Fine Wines, and hosted by the NZ School of Food and Wine this week – I had a chance to catch up on the new releases and a couple of back vintages of Ornellaia. The 1998 vintage of Ornellaia was named Wine Spectator’s No. 1 Wine of the Year (Wine of the Year) in 2001. A couple of friends hold it in very high regard and I’ve tasted very good older vintages – the 2001 comes to mind. I’ve always had mixed feelings about it though – for the reason that I don’t think it is a terroir-led wine – with a real sense of place.
‘Super Tuscan’ is the name given to these Italian wines that use varietals like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, rather than traditional Italian varietals. They are a nightmare to pick in a blind tasting. It is clearly of it’s type – an italian wine, made from Bordeaux varietals – and it tastes like that. You can taste that it is Bordeaux in style, but it also has an italian air to it. Now, I like Tuscany wines (Ornellaia is from Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast) but I prefer Sangiovese. I think it IS the grape of Tuscany, and I love Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino.
A Super Tuscan like Ornellaia, is undoubtedly a very fine wine, but I think of it as an ‘International Wine’. Something that I tie into the whole Robert Parker era of red wines, where one critic’s dominance and taste dictated changes across the world, to fit in with that. It was as if all the world’s wines started to taste the same. Suddenly places like Chateau Kirwan in Margaux were making a style like Pomerol from across the river. Even first growths like Chateau Mouton Rothschild changed tack and became darker, richer and more oak-led – all things that appealed to Parker.
It is no co-incidence that another single personality – wine consultant Michel Rolland – was flying around the globe and having a hand in many of these wines. A good friend of Parker and Robert Mondavi in Napa – he was also on the ground when Ornellaia was being created. Founded by Lodovico Antinori – of the famous Tuscan wine family, Antinori employed Rolland, and then sold part of the share in the venture to the Mondavi family. Through the back door, the whole Estate ended up in the hands of the ‘other big Tuscan wine family’ – the Frescobaldi family.
Opus One – the collaboration between Mondavi and Mouton Rothschild happened around the same time. And on Tuesday this week, I tasted a wine from Argentina – Yacochuya 2013, that was made in conjunction with Michel Rolland, using a blend of Argentina’s cornerstone grape – Malbec, with some Cabernet Sauvignon. Again, a very nice glass of wine, but something like the Ab Initio “Finca Scuseria” (albeit a straight Malbec) was the wine of the night.
At the Ornellaia Masterclass the Ornellaia 2016 ‘La Tensione’ really stood out. A wine with poise and elegance, but also a lift of energy, juiciness and velvet texture. I would score that 96/100, which would make it one of the best wines I will taste this year.
So, I am obviously saying that these are very good wines, but I find their polish and lack of self-identity an issue. If I compare Ornellaia to something like Pichon Lalande Comtesse, I prefer the French wine. If I compare Ornellaia to Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello, I prefer the Brunello – and so on. I think I also object to the whole ‘uniformity of style’ that came to pass during the time when Robert Parker was the most powerful voice in the world of wine. Rather, give me a simple, traditional wine with a sense of place (‘terroir’ as the French would say) that you can taste in the glass.
