FLOAT 100 · Wine · No. 66
Ornellaia 2016
On the Tuscan coast, where a Florentine nobleman planted Bordeaux grapes in 1981, the team called its 2016 'La Tensione,' and it earned what were then the highest scores two major critics had ever given the wine.
- Maker
- Ornellaia (Tenuta dell'Ornellaia)
- By price in wine
- 86 of 100
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Create a free account- Producer
- Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, Bolgheri, Tuscany
- Appellation
- Bolgheri DOC Superiore
- Vintage name
- 'La Tensione' (tension)
- Blend
- 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot
- Harvest
- August 24 to October 12, 2016, by hand
- Aging
- About 20 months in barrique (70% new), then 12 months in bottle
- Alcohol
- 14.5%, per one retailer listing
- Release
- Spring 2019
- Artist edition
- Shirin Neshat, for the Vendemmia d'Artista program
- Owner
- The Frescobaldi family, sole owners since 2005
Bordeaux grapes on the Tuscan coast
Ornellaia lies in Bolgheri, on the coast of Tuscany overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Marchese Lodovico Antinori founded the estate with the help of the winemaker Tibor Gal, planting the first vineyards in 1981. The first vintage was 1985, and a modern winery followed in 1987.
Rather than Tuscany's native Sangiovese, Antinori planted the grapes of Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The result became one of the best-known 'Super Tuscans,' a wave of ambitious wines made outside Italy's traditional rules, and one of Italy's leading Bordeaux-style reds.
The estate holds about 99 hectares of vineyards across two sites, Ornellaia and Bellaria, with about 38 hectares each of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and 12 of Cabernet Franc, plus smaller plantings of Petit Verdot and white grapes. Besides the flagship it makes Masseto, a pure Merlot, the second wine Le Serre Nuove, and Le Volte.
From Antinori to Mondavi to Frescobaldi
The estate changed hands as its reputation grew. The California winery Robert Mondavi took a minority stake in November 1999 and full ownership by 2002. In April 2005 the Florentine Frescobaldi family bought the remaining half of the shares and has owned the whole estate since.
The 2016 was made under Axel Heinz, the estate director, who led winemaking until 2023, with Michel Rolland as consulting enologist. The winemaker Olga Fusari wrote the official tasting note in July 2018.
Through its Vendemmia d'Artista program, the estate asks an artist to interpret the character of each vintage, summed up in a single word. For 2016 the word was 'La Tensione,' and the artist was the Iranian-American photographer, filmmaker and video artist Shirin Neshat. She made a site-specific installation at the estate, drew on the 11th-century Persian poet Omar Khayyam, and designed labels showing women's faces and hands covered in Farsi calligraphy. The estate produced a limited series of 111 large-format bottles with her work, plus custom labels for standard 750 ml cases.
2016: 'La Tensione'
The winter of 2016 was unusually warm, with heavy rain in February, and budbreak came in the last week of March. Water in the soil and a warm April pushed quick growth. May brought normal temperatures and dry, sunny weather for flowering in the last week of the month.
The summer was dry, and toward the end of ripening the vines were under real water stress; even the usual August thunderstorms never came. Much cooler nights let the vines recover from the heat of the day. Picking began on August 24 with Merlot from the youngest vineyards. Light rain in mid-September let the team finish in near-perfect conditions, and the harvest ended on October 12 with the last Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
Grapes were hand-picked into 15 kg crates and sorted twice, before and after destemming; 2016 was also the first year the estate added optical sorting. Each variety and parcel was fermented separately in steel and concrete at 26 to 30 degrees C, with about 10 to 15 days on the skins in total. The wine went through malolactic fermentation mostly in barrique, 70% new, and spent about 20 months in barrel, blended after the first 12. The final blend was 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot.
Heinz explained the name: the year gave a wine that was fully ripe and opulent yet firm and intense, opposing forces that create what the team calls 'tension.' Fusari described a particularly dark, youthful color and aromas of blueberry, spice and cedar, with a rich, dense palate balanced by firm tannins and bright acidity.
What the critics found
Monica Larner of the Wine Advocate scored the wine 96 to 98 from barrel, praising its 'Softness, Succulence and Structure' and calling it a 'luxuriant wine with profuse abundance and beaming optimism.' The finished wine earned 98 from the Wine Advocate, which described monumental depth with layers of black fruit, coffee, licorice and baking chocolate, and 98 from James Suckling. A U.S. merchant called these the highest ratings either had ever given Ornellaia.
Decanter scored it 97 in one review and 99 in another, describing it as 'poised, ethereal, fragrant, intense and sapid.' Jeb Dunnuck gave it 98+, and Vinous 96+.
The world in 2016
The day Ornellaia began picking its 2016 Merlot, August 24, an earthquake struck central Italy and killed 299 people. Earlier that summer British voters chose to leave the European Union, and on Bastille Day a truck attack in Nice killed 86.
In August Rio de Janeiro hosted the first Olympics in South America. In November the Chicago Cubs won their first World Series in 108 years, and Donald Trump was elected president of the United States.
Release and price
The 2016 was released internationally on April 24, 2019. U.K. merchants offered it at 1,800 pounds for a 12-bottle case, which put it above every other vintage on the market at the time and level with the acclaimed 2006 and 2010.
In September 2019 a North Carolina merchant offered bottles at $209.99 each. By October 2026 a California merchant listed the Neshat artist-label 750 ml edition at $395; that is a special-label bottle, not the standard one, and an asking price rather than a sale.
The numbers
- Estate vineyards
- About 99 ha across Ornellaia and Bellaria
- Plantings
- About 38 ha Cabernet Sauvignon, 38 ha Merlot, 12 ha Cabernet Franc, plus Petit Verdot and whites
- 2016 blend
- 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot
- 2016 harvest
- August 24 to October 12
- Oak
- About 20 months in barrique, 70% new
- Wine Advocate
- 96-98 from barrel (Monica Larner); 98 in bottle
- James Suckling
- 98
- Jeb Dunnuck
- 98+
- Decanter
- 97 and 99 in separate reviews
Timeline
Lodovico Antinori plants the first Ornellaia vineyards with Tibor Gal.
Ornellaia's first vintage.
A modern winery is completed.
Robert Mondavi takes a minority stake.
Mondavi achieves full ownership.
The Frescobaldi family buys the remaining shares and owns the estate outright.
Budbreak in the last week of March after a warm, wet winter.
Flowering in dry, sunny weather in the last week of May.
Harvest begins with Merlot from the youngest vineyards.
Harvest ends with the last Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot.
Winemaker Olga Fusari writes the official tasting note.
The estate unveils Ornellaia 2016 'La Tensione' and Shirin Neshat's artist edition.
The 2016 is released internationally, at 1,800 pounds a case in the U.K.
A U.S. merchant offers bottles at $209.99, citing record scores.
Axel Heinz leaves the estate.
The world in 2016
Bombings at Brussels airport and a metro station kill 35 people.
British voters approve leaving the European Union.
A truck attack during Bastille Day celebrations in Nice kills 86 people.
The Summer Olympics open in Rio de Janeiro, the first in South America.
An earthquake in central Italy kills 299 people.
The Chicago Cubs win the World Series, their first title in 108 years.
Donald Trump is elected the 45th president of the United States.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2019 | $210 | Asking price, not a saleMerchant offer at $209.99 net per 750 ml bottle, after the release. Not a sale. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Ornellaia 2016 is number 86 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (66 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Ornellaia's first vines were planted only in 1981, and its first vintage was 1985.
- The 2016 harvest began on August 24, the same day an earthquake struck central Italy.
- 2016 was the first vintage in which Ornellaia added optical sorting to its hand sorting.
- Shirin Neshat's labels for the 2016 show women's faces and hands covered in Farsi calligraphy.
- Robert Mondavi of California owned Ornellaia outright for a time before the Frescobaldi family took over in 2005.
- At release in 2019, the 2016 was priced above every other Ornellaia vintage on the market.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026