"The 2013 Ornellaia continues to put on weight with time in bottle. I have tasted the 2013 three times over the last few months and watched it blossom over that time. Fresh, vibrant and tightly wound, the 2013 is going to need at least a few years to come into its own. There is striking purity to the aromas and flavors, along with plenty of tension and enough energy to reward cellaring." -Antonio Galloni
Robert Parker
RP96
"The 2013 Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia is an integrated and seamless blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Alex Heinz tells me that 2013 was a difficult vintage especially towards the early part of the growing season. It balanced out during the summer and allowed for steady ripening of fruit before the harvest. But 2013 was not as hot as 2011 and 2012 overall, and this edition of Ornellaia is beautifully tonic and shapely as a result. The bouquet is very developed in terms of aromas this year with beautiful notes of dark fruit, tobacco and spice. Those perfumes are just gorgeous. The mouthfeel is similarly intense with tannins that are still young, but are already silky and linear in nature. This vintage promises a long aging future." -Monica Larner
Jancis Robinson
JR18.5
"Dark crimson with purple notes. Very ripe but with lively, savoury topnotes and lifted freshness. Great balance and approachability already. Funny to think of how even the finest 2013 red bordeaux would taste alongside this luscious wine. Scented and savoury. Pure hedonism. Not sure 'elegant' is the word I'd choose in a global context, but maybe it is appropriate in an Ornellaia context." -Jancis Robinson
Decanter
D100
"Ornellaia 2013 issues from a very 'Bolgherian' vintage. Tempering sea breezes aided long hang times, vital given the sluggish budburst. The reduced crop was a blessing, as remaining grapes could eek out those marginal gains in flavor and aroma expression, and above all elegance. A beautifully compact Ornellaia with a very clear, moreish fruit expression above a nuanced - if yet to be fully pliant - tannic frame. That resolving inner tension and crisp insistence makes this lightly saline red as bracing and fresh as if it were bottled yesterday."
Wine Spectator
WS93
"Vanilla, toast and smoke notes shade the black cherry and plum aromas, while the spicy oak theme carries over on the palate. A brash style that shows fine balance, but this will require time to find equilibrium." -Bruce Sanderson