Tuscany
Est. 1981 
12 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required 
Wine area
Bolgheri and the Tyrrhenian Coast
The cypress-lined coast between Castagneto Carducci and Suvereto where Italy first bottled Bordeaux blends.
Ornellaia
Ornellaia is one of Italy's most famous wine estates. It sits just outside the village of Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast south of Livorno, with vineyards running between olive groves and the sea. Lodovico Antinori planted the first vines in 1981, next door to the estate that makes Sassicaia, and the Frescobaldi family has owned it outright since 2005. The estate made its name with one wine: a Cabernet-led red considered one of Italy's leading Bordeaux-style reds. Every vintage of the main wine also comes in a limited artist edition.
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Wines from Ornellaia
About Ornellaia
Lodovico Antinori planted the first vines here in 1981, on land next door to the estate that makes Sassicaia. His idea was bold for its time: grow Bordeaux grapes on Bolgheri's warm coastal hills. The first Ornellaia followed in 1985, and a purpose-built winery in 1987.
The estate changed hands in stages. California's Robert Mondavi bought in from 1999. By 2005 the Frescobaldi family, Florentine winemakers for 700 years, owned it outright. Marchese Ferdinando Frescobaldi is president today and leads the estate with Marchese Lamberto Frescobaldi, supported by Marco Balsimelli as technical director. Michel Rolland has advised Ornellaia as consulting winemaker since the start.
The vines grow in two blocks: one around the winery, one at Bellaria, closer to the sea. The soils here were once sea bed, a shifting mix of sand, clay and marine fossils. So the estate farms dozens of small parcels one by one, and each is picked and fermented on its own. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot lead the plantings, with Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot behind them, plus white plots of Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Manseng, Viognier, Verdicchio and Vermentino.
The main wine is Ornellaia itself, a red of the Bolgheri DOC Superiore class, blended mostly from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Le Serre Nuove arrived in 1997, and the estate calls it Italy's first true second wine. Le Volte and the whites Poggio alle Gazze and Ornus carry the wider Toscana IGT label, while Ornellaia Bianco is the white flagship under the Bolgheri DOC.
Every vintage of the main wine also appears in a limited artist edition, the Vendemmia d'Artista, and the artists' site-specific works now line the estate and its barrique cellar. The estate opened its wine archive, the Archivio Storico, in 2017. It earned the Equalitas sustainability certification in 2021 and has published a sustainability report every year since.
Plate I · TUSCANY
Ornellaia on the Tuscany wine atlas
Winery
Ornellaia
Castagneto Carducci, Livorno · Bolgheri and the Tyrrhenian Coast
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
3 bookable experiences at Ornellaia
1 tasting and 2 tours, checked by our editors.
Hosted by the estate3 available
Tour
Visit to the winery
A guided visit through the historic vineyards, the barrique cellar and the Archivio Storico wine archive, welcomed by the Vendemmia d'Artista artworks.
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Tour
Vendemmia d'Artista experience
A visit built around the estate's art project: site-specific works by international artists, on the estate and in the cellar, each celebrating a single vintage of Ornellaia.
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Food Pairing
Picnic under the Bellaria oak
A gourmet picnic beneath the centuries-old Bellaria oak, looking over the vines towards the sea, with a tasting of the estate's white Poggio alle Gazze.
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Tours that visit OrnellaiaRun by a tour operator. The estate is the only stop on the itinerary. Booking completes on the platform that runs the tour.
Private Excursion from Florence to Ornellaia Wine Estate
480 min at the estate
8 hours
From €485 per person
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Plan your visit
Località Ornellaia, 191 - Fraz. Bolgheri, 57022 Castagneto Carducci, Livorno (Toscana)
What Ornellaia makes
Ornellaia's current bottle selection is led by Bolgheri DOC. The clearest grape signal comes from Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
Common questions
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They are two wines from the same stable. Ornellaia is a Cabernet-led blend from the vineyards around the winery. Masseto is a pure Merlot from its own small vineyard of seven hectares, made and sold as its own wine. Both belong to the Frescobaldi family, and since 2012 the company has been named Ornellaia e Masseto.
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