Tenuta dell' Ornellaia - Le Serre Nuove DOC 2020

LE SERRE NUOVE DELL'ORNELLAIA 2020 - BOLGHERI DOC ROSSO

Produced with the same passion and attention to detail as Ornellaia, Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia is a worthy "second wine". The composition of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot combines accessibility and a remarkable depth of flavor with proven aging potential.

THE VEGETATION PERIOD 2020
After a mild and rainy winter, March saw a temporary drop in temperature. In the last week of the month, right at the start of budding, temperatures were below 0 °C on a few nights. Fortunately, the fresh shoots were protected from frost damage by their fine bud tissue. The remainder of spring was characterized by generally warm weather with normal levels of rainfall, resulting in steady vine growth until flowering, which occurred between 20th and 25th May. Towards the middle of June there was heavy rain, followed by a very long dry period, with no rain until the end of August and very high temperatures prevailed. The véraison was smooth and rapid between July 20th and 25th, initiating the ripening of the grapes in sunny, hot weather conditions. At the end of August, welcome rains brought a significant drop in temperature, with overnight lows dipping to 13°C, providing ideal conditions for the Merlot to complete its maturation. In order to preserve their freshness and fruitiness as much as possible, the Merlot grapes were harvested early and quickly in just two weeks - just in time to avoid a sudden week-long heat wave that saw the thermometer register up to 37°C. The sugar content of all the varieties still to be harvested then rose sharply, which prompted us to start harvesting the Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon in the young vineyards on September 17th. Towards the end of the month, rainfall finally led to the normalization of weather conditions. The water absorbed by the grapes reduced the alcohol content to normal levels, which allowed us to complete the harvest of the Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot on October 3rd.

VINIFICATION AND AGING
After the manual harvest in 15 kg boxes, the grapes were selected both before and after destemming on double sorting tables and then gently pressed. In addition to manual sorting, optical grape sorting was introduced in 2016 to further increase the quality of the selection. Each grape variety and each site has undergone vinification separately. First, the two-week alcoholic fermentation took place partly in stainless steel tanks, partly in cement vats at temperatures between 22 and 28 °C, and then the maceration of about 10 to 15 days. The malolactic fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks, after which the wines were poured into barriques (25% new, 75% second use). The wine remained in the barriques, which are stored in the temperature-controlled wine cellar of Ornellaia, for a period of approximately 15 months. After the first 12 months, the grape varieties were blended and then poured back into the barriques, where the blend remained for another three months. After bottling, the wine ages in the bottle for a further six months before being released on the market.

## The Magnum bottle will be delivered in the original wooden box! ##