Ornellaia Poggio alle Gazze dell'Ornellaia 2023

Ornellaia's white is the quieter half of the estate's reputation and, vintage to vintage, arguably the more interesting wine to follow. Poggio alle Gazze — magpie hill — started life planted to Sauvignon Blanc alone. It has since become a blend, and the 2023 is 53% Sauvignon Blanc, 37% Vermentino, 7% Viognier and 3% Sémillon.

Those proportions tell you exactly what the wine is doing. Sauvignon sets the acidity and the green-edged aromatics. Vermentino, at better than a third of the blend, brings the saline, faintly bitter Mediterranean grip that stops this tasting like the Loire or Marlborough. The small dose of Viognier adds perfume and a little flesh. Whole bunches are pressed slowly, the juice settles for half a day, then half the lots go into barrique — only a quarter of them new — with the rest split between stainless steel and concrete. Six months on fine lees with regular bâtonnage, and no malolactic conversion at all, which is why the acidity stays as bright as it does.

Medium yellow in the glass. Guava, passion fruit and white grapefruit on the nose, wet stone underneath, a lick of vanilla from the oak. The palate is medium to full but strikingly linear — orchard fruit, citrus peel, sage and mint — then a long chalky, saline finish. It has the texture of a serious white and the energy of a much simpler one.

How to Serve

10–12°C, not fridge-cold. There is far too much detail here to serve at 6°C. Use a white wine glass with some width to it, and open it half an hour before you pour — it gains texture over the first hour.

Where to Drink It

The River Cafe, for the obvious reason. J Sheekey, where it will out-perform most of the white Burgundy on the list against shellfish. Noble Rot, for the company it keeps.

Food Pairings

Grilled langoustines, or a whole roast fish with fennel. The Vermentino salinity handles seafood beautifully. There's enough weight for a creamy risotto too, though I'd take the fish.