~ Tenuta Sette Ponti ~
“There are stars in the Southern sky. Southward as you go. There is moonlight and moss in the trees. Down the Seven Bridges Road……..”
Oreno takes its name from the river that bisects the Sette Ponti estate. Originally a wine dominated by Cabernet, the blend now changes from year to year based upon vintage conditions; though most recent vintages are at least 45-50% Merlot.
This is my impression of the 2010 when tasted at Gambero Rosso: This blend was tweaked significantly in 2010 with Merlot eclipsing Cabernet. 45% Merlot, 40% Cabernet and 15% Petit Verdot. This is dark purple all the way to the rim. Right now, the 18 months barrique aging is a bit too obvious – minty green herbs, flowers and fruit dominate the nose. On the palate, this is tight, tannic, green (wood) and not yet very expressive. I have at least 3 vintages of this wine in the cellar and this one makes me pause when I consider adding it. Approach carefully.
~ Seven Bridges (Sette Ponti) must be traversed when travelling to the estate ~
I should heed my own advice more often. Although to be fair, the vintages I made reference to at the time were the 2004, 2006 and 2010. I’ve since added the 2015. I’m stopping there. This wine is all over the place as you can see from the last time I had it in 2014.
The 2010 Sette Ponti Oreno is, well…….. boring and underwhelming. Look at that color! Gorgeous. And it’s the most redeeming trait of the wine. Given its youth, my knowledge of the wine, and the opportunity, I decanted this thing for 2+ hours. It never, ever came around. It’s green, lean and flat. Aromas of wet lumber, menthol and little else on the nose are followed by tannic, bitter wood notes with piney resin notes. I’m lost? I have more left that I’ll sit on but this estate is floundering in my opinion. This showing of Oreno reminded me of this Vigna dell’Impero and that makes me very, very unwilling to part with my money for experiences like these. Ugh. 84 points. Find this wine.
~ What is going on with this property? ~
Salute!
Hi John,
So, in short, better to stick with Orma then?
However, given the recent price increases for both wines/estates (the top bottlings of both 2015 and 2016 of these saw a price increase of >20% around here – thanks to Suckling and his ridiculous scores on these, boosting the demand from Asia) my feeling is their QPR is starting to become quite dubious. I don’t think I will be buying them in the future.
Br,
The 2015 Orma was great. But I agree with you about the value. Frankly, value isn’t really a word that goes hand in hand with Maremma wine and I think producers should be keen to that. The best wines of the region are and have been unattainable for most wine drinkers. It gives me charge to find alternatives for my readers but it’s disappointing nonetheless.
This wine – and the estate really – has generated a lot of discussion on my Facebook page. Seems lots of people are not enamored with the wines and/or family producing them. Way more negative views of this place than I would have suspected. Crognolo is hit or miss too and although some people love it, it’s not really a representative Sangiovese. It’s often hard to tell it’s Sangiovese. The estate is lovely and the vineyards are well cared for. I’m not sure what the variable is here but I hope they get it addressed.
Tried the 2010 Oreno today. Decanted for two hours. Brambly and tannic but it did provide ample cherry notes, forest floor notes and overall good flavour. Delicious but I don’t know if it’s worth the price. I have one more in the cellar that I will drink 2030.
Hi Rich, Price is always relative isn’t it? And for sure, this isn’t a cheap wine. At a recent Open House I hosted for some of my local readers, we blind tasted a few Tuscan Cab based wines and the 2017 Oreno was one. It was the best in the flight by a wide margin. I enjoy the wine but you are right, it does need pretty long aging. Especially recent vintages where the blend has been changed to more Bordeaux based varietals. Finally, shop around. Locally I see that wine from $70 to $100. Not that $70 is cheap, but that is a huge spread. Thanks for commenting!