Super Tuscans Explained: Ornellaia, Solaia, and Messorio Compared

Fifty years ago, a handful of Tuscan winemakers broke with tradition. Instead of relying solely on Sangiovese and the strict rules of Italian appellation law, they began planting Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc along the Bolgheri coast — grapes with no historical claim to the region, bottled as humble "table wine" because they didn't fit any existing category. The wines that resulted were so good they created their own category: the Super Tuscan.

Three of the movement's defining wines — Ornellaia, Solaia, and Le Macchiole's Messorio — are all in Vigneron's cellar right now, and together they tell the story of just how differently this one idea can turn out depending on who's holding the reins.

Ornellaia: The Pioneer

Founded in 1981 by Lodovico Antinori, Ornellaia was one of the first estates to plant international varieties on Bolgheri's gravelly, sea-facing soils. The wine is a Cabernet-led blend — typically Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and a touch of Petit Verdot — built for both power and polish. Expect deep black fruit, graphite, and warm spice, with the structure to age for decades. If Super Tuscans have a "founding father" wine, this is it.

Solaia: The Precision Blend

Made by the Antinori family at their historic Tignanello estate, Solaia takes a different approach: a Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant blend with a meaningful portion of Sangiovese folded in. That Sangiovese is the key — it brings a savoury, mineral edge and a lighter touch that pure Cabernet blends don't have. The result is a wine that feels unmistakably Tuscan even while built on Bordeaux grapes: refined, structured, and layered with cherry, tobacco, and cedar.

Messorio: The Purist's Wine

Where Ornellaia and Solaia are blends, Le Macchiole's Messorio is something rarer: a 100% Merlot from Bolgheri, made by a small, fiercely independent estate. Founded on the belief that a single variety, farmed with total precision, could rival any blend, Messorio is rich and concentrated — dark plum, espresso, graphite — with a density that punches well above what most Merlot-based wines achieve anywhere in the world. It's the most singular, uncompromising wine of the three.

Tasting Them Together

What makes these three fascinating side by side isn't just that they're all excellent — it's that they prove there was never one "right way" to make a Super Tuscan. Ornellaia shows what happens when you commit fully to the Bordeaux model. Solaia shows what happens when you let a little Sangiovese back in. Messorio shows what happens when you strip everything down to a single grape and trust it completely.

All three, along with the rest of our Tuscan selection, are available to browse in our Tuscany Wines collection.