by Wine Owners
Posted on 2016-03-24
OWNER
Tenuta San Guido
APPELLATION
Bolgheri
BLEND
85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc
AVERAGE SCORE
94/100
REVIEW
The 2008 Sassicaia is a rich, deep wine imbued with notable class in its black cherries, plums, grilled herbs, minerals and smoke. The 2008 is a decidedly buttoned-up, firm Sassicaia that is currently holding back much of its potential, unlike the 2006 and 2007, both of which were far more obvious wines. Readers who can afford to wait will be treated to a sublime wine once this settles down in bottle. Muscular, firm tannins frame the exquisite finish in this dark, implosive Sassicaia. The 2008 Sassicaia is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc. The wine spent 24 months in French oak barrels. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2038. Tenuta San Guido is on a roll these days. Over the last few years, the estate has released a number of hugely delicious wines. These new releases are nicely aligned with their respective vintages. The entry-level Le Difese and Guidalberto both capture the essence of a sunny year that made wines well suited to near-term drinking, while the 2008 Sassicaia captures the potential of a powerful vintage characterized by low yields and a late harvest. (Robert Parker, 2011).
by Wine Owners
Posted on 2015-09-21
Chateau Batailley 2010
Region Bordeaux (Medoc)
Appellation Pauillac
Classification Cinquieme Cru Classe
Current Market Price
'Made in a more charming style than the normally backward, rather formidably tannic wines of Batailley, this 2010 is an endearing, elegant wine, but it has no shortage of power, richness and intensity. It displays loads of beautiful cassis, cedar and Christmas fruitcake notes along with impressive purity, texture and a full-bodied mouthfeel. Usually much more austere, this vintage seems to have produced a richer, more layered and opulent style of Batailley that can be approached in 3-5 years and consumed over the following 25 years.'
92 points - Robert Parker
Current best offer on the exchange £290 IB (12x75)
* * *
Tenuta dell' Ornellaia Ornellaia 2001
Region Italy (Tuscany)
Appellation Bolgheri
Classification /
Current Market Price
'The 2001 Ornellaia is easily the finest in the history of the estate, warm and spicy on the nose with superbly focused plum and black currant fruit, much complexity and elegance in its concentrated and supple body, and a velvety, enveloping close. It will easily drink well for another two decades'
96 points - Robert Parker
Current best offer on the exchange £600 IB (6x75)
* * *
Le Clarence de Haut-Brion 2010
Region Bordeaux (Graves) Pessac-Leognan
Classification /
Current Market Price
'It is a broad, powerful and more muscular wine than its cross-street rival, La Chapelle de la Mission, but all the same, it is wonderfully fresh and precise, with notes of blueberry and boysenberry as well as hints of smoke and wet stones. Endowed with gorgeous fruit, texture, purity and elegance, this relatively dense second wine demonstrates how draconian the selection process has become for the top estates in Bordeaux in recent years. The blend of this wine is 52% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest mostly Cabernet Franc with just a touch of Petit Verdot. I would expect it to last at least 20 years, which is remarkable.'
93 points - Robert Parker
Current best offer on the exchange £300 IB (6x75)
by Wine Owners
Posted on 2013-11-21
Among all wines that were bought and sold this week on the Exchange, let's take a look at Tenuta dell' Ornellaia Ornellaia Bolgheri 2004.
Bolgheri is one of Italy’s most prestigious vineyard areas, with a reputation based around terroir-driven Bordeaux style blends from iconic estates such as Sassicaia and Ornellaia. The main focus of the Bolgheri DOC is the importance of terroir and for this reason, the Bolgheri Rosso and Bolgheri Superiore wines are labeled without the mention of grapes, as terroir is considered more significant than grape varieties. It is also why Bolgheri wines are reputed for their true expressions of terroir.
Tenuta dell' Ornellaia Ornellaia Bolgheri 2004 reached a market price peak of £1403.76 at the beginning of November and is now hovering around £1,380, with the most recent trade on the Exchange at a level of £1244.
'The 2004 Ornellaia (magnum) has always been a beautiful wine, but stylistically it stands out quite a bit from other vintages of this era, something that is particularly evident in this tasting. The 2004 is perhaps the most delicate, feminine Ornellaia ever made. Silky tannins frame a perfumed core of ripe fruit all the way through to the sublime finish. The wine's inner fragrance, sweetness and balance are all impeccable. The 2004 remains one of my all-time favorite Ornellaias, and it is firing on all cylinders on this night. In 2004 the growing season was long and even, with a cool early summer and warmer late summer. Yields were on the high side, as the vines released the stored energy they had held in reserve from the previous year, which required the estate to aggressively green harvest in order to keep the plants in balance. The 2004 Ornellaia is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The relatively high percentage of Cabernet Franc may explain the 2004's gorgeous, vivid bouquet. The wine spent a total of 18 months in oak (70% new) prior to being bottled. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.' 95 points, Antonio Galloni
Interestingly, the younger 2009 vintage, rated 97 points by Robert Parker, gravitates around a market price of £1,108. It slightly dropped from its release price of £1186. This raises two questions. First, can the 2004 stand as a benchmark against which younger vintages are compared? In which case will the 2009 follow the same trajectory over the next few years?
