Ornellaia

I'd sell any bottles of Masseto I had and buy case of assorted other italian wines or a case of Montevertine. But despite being enormously overpriced for my personal budget, the '95 and '96 are worth at least trying once.

Zul referred to the wine as "Massesexyo", which always struck me as a little out of character.

Other super-tuscans that I don't have and would sell but are (or were a few years ago) also really excellent wines--1990 Tignanello and 1988 Solaia.
 
originally posted by Bwood:
Other super-tuscans that I don't have and would sell but are (or were a few years ago) also really excellent wines--1990 Tignanello and 1988 Solaia.
Click to expand...
The '90 Tignanello was one of the first high-end wines I ever had, and I remember loving it. Had all sorts of cognitive dissonance for years before I realized it was an outlier rather than a benchmark.
 
originally posted by Bwood:
I'd sell any bottles of Masseto I had and buy case of assorted other italian wines or a case of Montevertine. But despite being enormously overpriced for my personal budget, the '95 and '96 are worth at least trying once.

Zul referred to the wine as "Massesexyo", which always struck me as a little out of character.

Other super-tuscans that I don't have and would sell but are (or were a few years ago) also really excellent wines--1990 Tignanello and 1988 Solaia.
Click to expand...

Zul was the first person to tell me 1996 Masseto was great.
 
Scott, you reported that they only use indigenous yeasts. Surprises me greatly. Who told you this? And do you know if they meant they let it start by itself and then they inoculate?
 
originally posted by Alice F.:
Scott, you reported that they only use indigenous yeasts. Surprises me greatly. Who told you this? And do you know if they meant they let it start by itself and then they inoculate?
Click to expand...

i was told by Axel Heinz, the winemaker since 2005, that solely ambient yeasts were used from 1985 to 2005. since then, Axel explained, "a determination is made in each of the the 60+ plots whether or not to use inoculated yeast based on the specific needs of the plot."
 
originally posted by Alice F.:
Scott, you reported that they only use indigenous yeasts. Surprises me greatly. Who told you this? And do you know if they meant they let it start by itself and then they inoculate?
Click to expand...

Why would that surprise you?

Manetti plants clones at Montevertine.

I think you might ascribe a list of practices to wines you like and assume that wines you don't like must be doing something different.

IME, the best vigerons are flexible about methods. Shitty ones rigidly follow a philosophy.
 
I would not be surprised at all that Ornellaia uses indigenous yeasts. I am always to find out some trophy wine or wine I don't like uses native yeasts. Had many a-ha moments like that in my years in the Biz.

And Scott? What kind of "determination" is made? Sounds kind of like winemaker hokum to me.
 
originally posted by Lyle Fass:
I would not be surprised at all that Ornellaia uses indigenous yeasts. I am always to find out some trophy wine or wine I don't like uses native yeasts. Had many a-ha moments like that in my years in the Biz.

And Scott? What kind of "determination" is made? Sounds kind of like winemaker hokum to me.
Click to expand...

If the brix is higher they inoculate to avoid stuck fermentation would be my guess.
 
the group format of the tasting only enabled me to get so much granularity. the inoculation question is one area where my prodding was somewhat evaded. the other: organic farming 'practices'.
 
What I want to know is why did they decide now? Were there zero stuck fermentations in the past?

As an aside I have a salesman who has a very clever routine. I ask about cellar work, and like clockwork all he yaps about is maceration. Nothing about spraying in the vineyard, clones, yeast or sulfur. The guy is like a broken record and changes the subject every time I bring up a real or probing question. Or goes back to maceration.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top