Ornellaia

Founded in 1981 by Marchese Lodovico Antinori, the wines of the Ornellaia estate show remarkable consistency and are rightly considered an Italian great. Famed for its legendary Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated Super Tuscan wine (blended with a smaller percentage of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot), the Tenuta dell'Ornellaia lies near Bolgheri in Tuscany, on the Mediterranean coast. Renowned winemaker Axel Heinz was first appointed in 2002.

Starting with the release of the 2006 vintage in 2009, Ornellaia has produced the highly coveted Vendemmia d'Artista series; a celebration of the unique character of each new vintage in which a contemporary artist creates a work of art and a series of limited edition labels drawing inspiration from the single word chosen by the winemaker to describe the character of the new vintage. Celebrated contemporary artists have included Shirin Neshat, William Kentridge and Ernesto Neto.

The Ornellaia estate also produces a beautiful white wine, Ornellaia Bianco, which is a white blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier; the superb Sauvignon Blanc-dominant Poggio alle Gazze; a beautiful red Mediterranean expression known as Le Volte dell'Ornellaia; the 'second' red wine, Le Serre Nuove dell’Ornellaia and a late harvest Petit Manseng sweet wine known as Ornus.