2020 Ornellaia Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia Bolgheri Rosso Tuscany 750 ml

Ornellaia. Often referred to as “Italy’s First Growth,” the name stirs the heart and makes even the toughest critics go weak at the knees. Wine Advocate classified it as “monumental,” and Antonio Galloni of Vinous wrote that Ornellaia’s wines “have never failed to literally send shivers down my spine.”  

Two decades ago, Ornellaia introduced Le Serre Nuove. 

Made from the same estate vineyards by the same extraordinary winemaking team, it’s technically a “second wine”—but if a Super Tuscan of this quality came from another estate, we’d simply call it a competitor. The 2020 illustrates why estate director Axel Heinz said, “2020 will be regarded as one of Bolgheri’s greatest vintages, such as 2006, 2010, and 2016.” 

Wine Access members are head over heels for Le Serre Nuove, with previous vintages earning some of the best ratings we’ve ever seen: over 4.6 out of five stars. You simply can’t go wrong with this wine, especially with its history of outscoring comparable reds from Grand Cru Classé estates like Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Haut Brion. 

For Le Serre Nuove, Heinz—“one of the world’s most in-demand winemakers,” according to Galloni—selects fruit from younger vines and leans more on Merlot, resulting in a fresher, more elegant profile that drinks beautifully out of the gate. A blend of 54% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2020 was hand-harvested into small 15kg boxes then sorted manually and optically before crush. The components spent 15 months in 25% new and 75% once-used French oak.

This is a Super Tuscan that refuses to be outshined by any other—no matter the price, no matter the estate.