|
 Sassicaia,
Solaia, Ornellaia, Gaja… are a few of my favourite Tuscan wines
which bring music to the ears and pleasure to the palate. Of course, the
last one is not a wine but the legendry producer from Barbaresco, who
makes Super Tuscans as well, in the relatively recent Bolgheri, South
west of Tuscany in the Maremma coastal area. Solaia is crafted in the
traditional Chianti Classico region.
Ornellaia has an ornamental ring to it. It is always
a treat to taste this delicious Super Tuscan from the Frescobaldi family
and so I could not resist the temptation of being one of the first to
taste the recently released-for-tasting 2005 vintage at Shangri-la, the
latest Delhi hotel vying to be a wine destination with many novel policies
on the anvil.
Ornellaia is an Italian equivalent of Bordeaux; the
2005 has 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and the
recently added 4% Petit Verdot. It is celebrating its 20th anniversary
this year and one of the first to join in was a group of journalists,
wine lovers and hotel industry people who had collected to taste the Italian
version of the equivalent classified growth from Medoc.
But before the unveiling of this charmer, there was
Le Serre Nuove, the second wine of this Frescobaldi-owned estate. Made
from younger vineyards (the old world charm also lies in their belief
that vines need to age before they start yielding great fruit), the grapes
are picked separately from each parcel and after individual fermentation
and barrel aging for 12 months, does the winemaker decide whether the
wine is good enough to be designated as the King Ornellaia, in which case
it enjoys 6 more months in the barrel and 12 months in the bottle at the
cellar, before it can be uncorked.
Not long ago, Robert Mondavi had picked up share holding
in the prestigious Tenute dell'Ornellaia, the winery founded by Lodovico
Antinori. But it is now back with the Tuscan family of Frescobaldi as
their exclusive private reserve.
Giovanni Mazzoni, the export manager for 52 countries
in West Asia-Pacific, Middle-East was in Delhi to unveil the flagship
wine of the Frescobaldi family and the wine certainly did not disappoint.
Though a bit young and tight as expected, the tannins are still fairly
strong and powerful and need some taming down but the complexity of fruit
and minerality were abundant.
Explaining to delWine, Mazzoni said that though Ornellaia
was born in 1984 (says the website), it was not sold in the market and
they figure 1985 was the first year and hence the 20th celebrations for
2005, with special gold inscribed bottle.
The best of the evening belonged to the 1995 though,
which was simply superb- perfectly balanced tannins and fruit with a complex
and long after finish- the flavour is still lingering in mouth (the vintage
can make so much of difference-and in case of fine wines the maturity
comes with spending years in the barrel or even the bottle and also 1995
was an excellent vintage.)
Ornellaia is yet another beauty in Brindco's Harem!
And if we were ever to double-date I would let Aman Dhall take the 2005
and I would go for the older, and more mature and well-balanced 1995 stunner!
Kudos to Shangri-la for its effort to get the Champagne
export into India keep pace with the rest of the country in wine consumption
by starting the evening with uncorking of the famous sparkler.
Subhash Arora
March 10, 2008
In case Hindi is not your mother tongue or father
tongue- the heading of this article simply describes the event- Ornellaia
came to Delhi… and pleased hearts whole-heartedly
|