December 29, 2008
Ornellaia: 2005 Magnum Raises $14K for Charity

The wine was donated just before Christmas by the prestigious Tenuta dell’Ornellaia estate to the Fondazione Tommasino Bacciotti —a Florentine-based not-for-profit foundation dedicated to the fight against childhood brain tumors, raising funds for brain cancer research and providing economic support to families of patients in treatment at the Mayer Children Hospital of Florence. The magnum was purchased by a Lebanese wine collector at one of several charity wine auctions taking place throughout Italy during the holiday season for solidarity. A double magnum of Ornellaia 2005 was raised 15,000 euro, purchased by the Moratti Family, owners of the Inter-Milan soccer team.

The 2005 bottling marks the twentieth anniversary vintage of this world celebrate wine. Thanks to the generosity of the Ornellaia estate and the increasing value of its wines at international wine auctions, more than $200,000 were raised for charity this past year—a year marked by success and increased prestige for this Super-Tuscan power house. Last month the 2006 vintage of Masseto brought in an unprecedented deal for the estate and the first ever en-primeur purchase of an Italian wine by French négociants, while an Imperial (6L. bottle) of the same bottling brought in $6,379 at the Geraldini & Romani fall auction.