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This is a ripe and full red with complex aromas of cedar, cloves, tobacco and dried mushrooms. Distinct, earthy quality underneath ripe plums and licorice. Layers of chocolatey tannins. Black truffles, too. From organically grown grapes. Better after 2024.James Suckling | 96 JSThe Fornacina 2016 Brunello di Montalcino opens to a darkly saturated appearance and toasted aromas of roasted nut backed by dark blackberry fruit. Made with organic fruit, this Brunello is fermented in stainless steel and aged in large oak casks in a traditional and straightforward manner. Production in this vintage is 10,000 bottles. There is lot of intensity here, and the wine draws its power not only from the fruit, but also in large part from the oak aging. Indeed, its fruit-driven aromas share equal billing with campfire ash and smoked cedar or mahogany.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RPThe 2016 Fornacina is a dark and earthy expression of Brunello di Montalcino. Ashen soils, crushed stone and animal musk dominate its bouquet, with hints of black cherry buried deeply beneath. It’s silky and pliant, casting an array of black fruits and exotic savory spices across a medium-bodied frame. Balance is well maintained, and there’s a blending of sour citrus and nervous tension here that keeps you coming back to the glass. The Fornacina is quite unique yet highly enjoyable, and it won’t require much time to come fully into focus.Vinous Media | 91 VM

This is a fantastic white. The greatest Ornellaia white so far. Very complex and dense yet, at the same time, energetic and vivid. This shows so much richness and density with a pretty, phenolic texture that keeps you entranced. Full-bodied with lots of honeysuckle, green-melon and cooked-apple character. Very long and flavorful. Dynamic and great wine. Drinkable now, but better in 2021.James Suckling | 99 JSThe star of the show with regard to the whites is unquestionably the 2016 Ornellaia Bianco. It’s reminiscent of a great vintage of Domaine de Chevalier with its incredible purity, precision, and length, displaying notes of clean citrus, melon, white flowers, and honeyed minerality. Fresh and vibrant as well as rich and powerful, it’s medium-bodied, seamless, and flawlessly balanced on the palate, with a thrilling finish. While it’s beautiful today, it should keep for 10-15 years or more. The 2016 is 100% Sauvignon Blanc that was brought up in 30% new French oak.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDA cooler but drier year than 2015, making an interesting comparison between Ornellaia Bianco’s only two 100% Sauvignon Blanc vintages. Smoky lanolin notes lead to a concentrated, intense and juicy palate with creamy nectarine, grilled pineapple and citrus zest. Despite heading towards all-out exoticism, however, the 2016 is corseted and refined, demonstrating a push-pull between juicy, ripe tropical fruits and mineral restraint, suggesting there is much more to come from this wine. The individual base wines were fermented in barriques (30% new) with no malolactic fermentation, then aged on the lees for up to 18 months with occasional batonnage. A final three months on steel was completed before blending and bottling.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2016 Ornellaia Bianco is a beguiling wine, even a bit deceptive when you get down to facts. This is indeed the central part of its irresistible charm. For one, this edition is a mono-variety wine made solely with Sauvignon Blanc. (The other protagonist of the blend, Viognier, is said to return in 2017.) However, the complexity of the bouquet could mistakenly make you think the blend is more intricate. You get white rose, crisp apple, saffron, toasted pine nut, cinnamon and wild sage. The aromas show brilliant detailing. In addition, the wine is expansive and creamy in terms of mouthfeel. However, none of the whites at Ornellaia—including this wine—undergo malolactic fermentation, though the creamy and richly textured mouthfeel might lead you to conclude otherwise. This classic vintage is especially generous and rich. The wine does see barrique aging, but only a third of the wood is new. Those spicy endnotes serve to frame the beautiful fruit that sits squarely at center stage.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe 2016 Ornellaia Bianco has more nuance, freshness and layers of flavors than the 2015 tasted alongside it. I very much like the delineation and energy that are such signatures of the 2016.Vinous Media | 93-95 VMThe 2016 Ornellaia Bianco looks more mature than the 2015 and Heinz comments that it may have had a little too long in oak - 18months - which was longer than in other vintages. Although 2016 was cooler than 2015 - so you might expect more freshness - it was also much drier than 2015. This 2016 has an orange-gold tone to the color and a slightly, nutty, dried fruit aromatic profile with lightly perfumed spice notes. The texture is great, more of a full, voluptuous style with a medium-long finish. The 2016 is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, perhaps lacking a little freshness and vibrancy, but has a lovely silky weight and a gentle savory finish.The Wine Independent | 93 TWI

The complexity and beauty of this wine is something else on the nose, offering perfume, cedar, dried flower, black cherry, blueberry and crushed stone. Orange peel, too. Full-bodied with incredible layers of ultra-fine tannins that give this wine horizontal depth that almost seems endless. Extremely long and lightly chewy at the end. This is one for the cellar. Try after 2026.James Suckling | 99 JSDelicate aromas recalling forest berry, rose, violet and wild herb shape the enticing nose. The savory, elegantly structured palate features juicy red cherry, spiced cranberry, star anise and a hint of tobacco set against taut, fine-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it well balanced and focused. A wonderful expression of the fantastic vintage from one of Montalcino's most historic producers, it boasts great aging potential. Drink 2026–2046.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEThe 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva seduces the senses as it mixes savory and sweet, the dusty rose and crushed stone aromas giving way to wild strawberry and dried cherry. A velvety textural wave saturates the palate with salty minerals and tart raspberry fruits, lifted by stunning acidity and cooling herbal tones that create a cascading feel to the crunchy red fruits. While structured and dry, it's also incredibly long, crystalline in nature, and lingers on notes of salted licorice and savory spice. This shows all of the best qualities of the vintage, expertly matched to the classic stylings of Fuligni. That said, the 2016 is a sleeping giant, in need of cellaring to show its best. Deciding between this and the estate Brunello from 2016 is like splitting hairs, but what I can say is that the Riserva has the potential for a longer life and possibly a higher score when at full maturity.Vinous Media | 98+ VMFuligni’s Riserva is born in the San Giovanni vineyard at Podere Cottimelli, the estate’s original site. It is a selection of the best bunches from vines averaging 50 years of age. The 2016 is currently a brooding beast, but a remarkably handsome one at close glance. It starts with polished leather and walnut skin before disclosing hints of lavender, anise and freshly turned earth. The structure is even denser and drier than the annata, but the fruit is also sweeter and more concentrated. Finely chiselled tannins wrap around black cherry and red plum, and with an intense mineral drive this is fully charged. It will take a few more years, however, to lay bare all of its lurking intricacies. Drinking Window 2025 - 2045.Decanter | 98 DECHere's one of the show-stoppers in this report. The Fuligni 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a layered and important wine with deep renderings of wild berry, ripe fruit, oak spice, pressed flowers and garden herbs. This Brunello lives up to its Riserva designation with extra textural richness, more oak definition, structure and a bigger, longer-lasting aromatic profile. The wine closes with hints of cola, rosemary and wild rose.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97+ RPThe Fuligni’s estate is in Montalcino’s northeast quadrant, where the high elevations cause temperatures to drop sharply at night. Those conditions combined in 2016 with a long and even growing season to produce this exciting Riserva. The wine is effortlessly concentrated and powerful, its deep flavors of dark cherry layered with notes of fresh tobacco and mortared herbs underlined by a firm streak of graphite. Scents of violet and lavender enhance the wine’s graceful personality as vibrant spice notes draw out the long, harmonious finish.Empson USA, NYWine and Spirits Mag | 97 W&SRipe and harmonious, this red features cherry and berry flavors augmented by earth, mineral, tobacco and thyme accents. Fresh and firms up as it winds down on the long, fruit-, mineral- and spice-tinged finish. Best from 2024 through 2042. 2,160 cases made, 250 cases imported. Wine Spectator | 95 WS