Ornellaia, Bolgheri Superiore 2019

THE CLIMATE OF 2019 More than most vintages, 2019 was characterized by a highly variable climate, which alternated periods of cold and rain with long bouts of drought and heat. After a normal winter, the budding took place in the first week of April. The cold and rainy conditions throughout April and May significantly slowed down the vegetative vine growth, leading to a 10-day delay in flowering compared to the average. Very hot, rainless weather suddenly arrived in June, reaching temperature peaks of 37°C at the end of the month. The weather stayed warm and sunny throughout the summer with temperatures 2°C above average and 45 consecutive days without rain. The long dry period was interrupted by two days of rain in the last week of July, bringing the temperature back to the seasonal norm, with ideal conditions for ripening. The harvest began slowly on 5th September. As usual, the last week of September saw a lowering of temperatures which made it possible to preserve a great finesse and aromatic freshness. Sunny conditions returned after another rainy event on 21st September, which allowed us to conclude the harvest of the later ripening varieties on 4th October. VINIFICATION AND AGEING The clusters were hand-picked into 15 kg crates and then selected by hand on a double sorting table, before and after destemming, and then softly crushed. In 2016, optical sorting has been introduced in addition to manual selection, in order to further increase the quality of selection. Each grape variety and single vineyard block were vinified separately. Fermentation took place in stainless steel and concrete tanks at temperatures between 26 and 30°C for one week, 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. The wine then remained in barriques, in Ornellaia’s temperature-controlled cellars for about 18 months. After the first 12 months of maturation, the wine was assembled and then returned to the barriques for an additional 6 months. After bottling, the wine aged a further 12 months prior to release. Axel Heinz - Estate Director