Ornellaia, Bolgheri Rosso DOC (Tuscany, Italy) 2020

 When the late Robert Mondavi was in his ascendancy near the end of the last century, he partnered with major producers on other continents in what were to become iconic red wines.  Although the Napa Valley pioneer and his family later had to sell their business, the great wines live on, a tribute to Mondavi’s world vision.  Here the partner was Frescobaldi.  Le Serre is Ornellaia’s second wine, but, as with second wines of many great properties, other producers would have loved to have it as their first.  A Bordeaux blend, the wine has very rich fruitiness and flavors – dark cherry, blackberry, a little chocolate – encased in a cocoon of nutty oak and integrated tannins.  It is one of those harmonious wines that will get mellower, rather than leaner, with age.