Ornellaia was founded in 1981 by Lodovico Antinori at Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast a few kilometres from Sassicaia. The land had no winemaking tradition to speak of; what it had was gravel, sea air and a maritime climate that suits Bordeaux varieties far better than Sangiovese.

The wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon-led blend with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot — a Bordeaux assemblage grown in Italy, and one of the wines that defined the Super Tuscan category. It has carried the Bolgheri Superiore DOC since the appellation was created.

Every vintage since 2006 has been given a name and an artist-designed label for a limited run of large formats — the Vendemmia d’Artista project, which is part of why the wine is collected as heavily as it is drunk.

2015 was a warm, sunny, generous season on the Tuscan coast, tempered by well-timed rain in August. It produced one of the most immediately seductive Ornellaias of the decade — the estate named it Il Carisma.

Ripe blackcurrant and blackberry over sweet spice and Mediterranean herbs; opulent and velvety on the palate, the tannins ripe and enveloping, closing long, warm and faintly saline from the sea air. Drinking well now, with fifteen years in hand.

Supplied in original wooden case, six bottles.