Jamessuckling.com | JS 98
Published: Jul 19, 2023

Alluring aromas of lead pencil and currants with crushed stone and iodine. Full-bodied with hemmed in tannins that are tight and focused. Very fresh and energetic with wonderful length and intensity for this vintage. Needs four or five years to come together. Better in 2028 and onwards.

Decanter | D 97
Published: jUL 1, 2023
Drink: 2023-2035

Ornellaia 2020 shows an outstanding balance between suppleness and structure. Each grape variety and individual block were vinified separately in stainless steel and concrete tanks, followed by maceration for about 15 days, for a total time in the vat of about three weeks. The malolactic fermentation took place mainly in oak barrels, 70% new and 30% used once. After the first 12 months of maturation in barriques, the wine was assembled and then returned to the barriques for an additional six months. Purple in the glass and concentrated yet very restrained, dark cassis emerges above leafy kiwi peel and citrussy hints. There's some lightness on the palate, with velvety tannins and a savoury yet youthful character. The finish is lively, super-fresh and grainy, and the alcohol is integrated well. Graphite and ‘Early morning’ pipe tobacco enhance the aftertaste.
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 14.50%
Body: Medium
Oak: Oaked
Grapes: 13% Cabernet Franc 50% Cabernet Sauvignon 32% Merlot

The Wine Advocate | RP 95
Published: May 31, 2023
Drink: 2026-2045

The 2020 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with small percentages of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It opens to an impenetrable, full-bodied approach with dark fruit, pencil shaving, toasted oak, Spanish cedar, campfire ash and iron ore. For sure, this is an especially concentrated and oak-driven vintage of this iconic wine. It absolutely requires more aging time. It feels quite tight and firm in its youth. The concentration is abundant.

Following a very productive 17 years at Masseto and Ornellaia, Estate Director Axel Heinz announced in March of this year that he was leaving his position. He will join Chateau Lascombes in Bordeaux as CEO. Axel was born in Germany, raised in France and established a brilliant winemaking career in Italy. "It makes it difficult to know which national soccer team to root for," he once joked with me. Under his time at Masseto and Ornellaia, the two brands grew in respective strength with individual identities. His new releases command some of the highest prices in Italian wine and are sought after by collectors worldwide. Axel oversaw the construction of the new Masseto winery, and he launched a second wine called Massetino (new vintages of both are reviewed here). Axel was quoted in the Italian press as saying, "Italy will stay in my heart forever, but it's time to go back to France."

Jancisrobinson.com | JR 18
Published: Feb 23, 2023
Drink: 2024-2038

Full bottle 1,327 g. This year's release is known as La Proporzione. Blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot from a year in which cold and rain alternated with extended hot and dry periods but temperatures fell towards harvest, which was welcome. Aged in 70% new barriques for about 18 months.
Deep, lustrous crimson. Very sumptuous nose followed up by a hedonistic palate that finishes especially fresh. Ripe but not too-ripe fruit – a drier (much less sweet) vintage than usual which should age well. Unusually, there is some vestige of tannin on the finish. It's certainly possible to drink now if it's aerated before serving but ideally, I'd keep this awhile. Savoury persistence. 

Ornellaia.com

Ornellaia is a blend of nature and musing. Complex ancient soils converse through human wisdom with a delicate microclimate that is echoed and reflected in the Mediterranean Sea. Prolonged ageing accompanies the estate’s fine wine in achieving its utmost expression, revealing finesse and generosity over time.

The 2020 vintage provided the inspiration, characterized by highly variable conditions interspersed with cold, wet spells and long periods of heat and drought. After a changeable spring and an almost perfect summer, the lower temperatures at the end of September resulted in wines of great finesse and aromatic abundance. This is a powerful, mysterious and intriguing wine, whose first sip does not reveal all its facets, but envelops the palate, curious to grasp its myriad nuances.