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Cepparello has been produced by Paolo De Marchi since 1980 and I've been a fan since the 1990 vintage. Isole e Olena's flagship wine is 100% Sangiovese, selected from the estate's best vineyard sites. Situated in Chianti Classico, the vines are open to breezes from the sea, resulting in wines of exceptional elegance. I personally find it much more sophisticated and effortless than many of its more power-focused rivals. 2019 produced many exceptional wines in Tuscany and the Cepparello is up there with the best.
ETA August 2022
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2019 Cepparello
£450.00 per 6 Bot Case, in bond
£556.07 Duty & VAT paid
(Special introductory price of £450. Normal price £485)
The 2019 Cepparello is super-impressive, even though it has just been bottled. Ample and creamy, with its classic sense of mid-weight structure, the 2019 has so much to offer. Silky tannins wrap around a core of red/purplish berry fruit. New leather, spice and a hint of oak meld together effortlessly in the glass. I can’t wait to check on it in another 6-12 months or so. The 2019 is shaping up to absolutely stellar. 2027-2049
96 points Anonio Galloni, Vinous
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The Vintage
2019 vintage started with a mild and relatively dry winter. Early spring allowed a regular budding while some rainfall during the second half of the year led to an average summer with reduced rainfall and few hot peaks. The fruit was harvested during first and second week of September with the bunches in excellent condition, which has resulted in a generous crop in terms of quantity.
Producer
Paolo De Marchi's vineyards, like those of Giovanni Manetti at Fontodi, are superbly tended. This, more than anything, yields wines of the quality that have kept them both ahead of the chasing pack for the past three decades.
The name 'Isole e Olena' came about in the 1950s when two adjoining estates, 'Isole' and 'Olena', were purchased by the De Marchi family and combined to form one. The history of both estates dates back many hundreds of years, with the earliest documentation of the village of Olena in the 12th century.
Isole e Olena is situated in the western part of Chianti Classico, just north of the village of Castellina. Its 45 hectares of vineyard are situated between 350 – 450 metres above sea level, planted primarily on galestro soil. Because the western flank of Chianti is open to breezes from the sea, this is a much cooler part of the zone, resulting in wines that are lighter but more scented and elegant than many others.
‘Cepparello’, Paolo's flagship wine, made solely from Sangiovese, is fragrant with great elegance and balance. His Chianti, a blend of 80% Sangiovese supplemented by Canaiolo and a dash of Syrah, is scented and alluring.
Vineyards
The vineyards are located in the high San Donato in Poggio area, at an altitude of 350-480 metres above sea level and face South/South-West. Vines are 54/58 years old and planted with 3,000 (older vineyards) – 7,350/6,500 (new vineyards) with spur-pruned cordon and guyot system. Here soil is a mixture of limestone, clay slates, marls and sandstone.Paolo De Marchi was one of the first producers in Chianti Classico to plant high density vineyards with new lower yielding clones of Sangiovese in the 1980s. In many cases he returned to the poor soils on hillside sites that had been abandoned when quantity took precedent over quality. As a result of these changes, Paolo gets better grapes, and hence better wines.
Vinification
Fermentation took place in stainless-steel tanks with 12 days of maceration, délestage (or 'rack and return') and pumping-over twice a day. De Marchi first experimented with the délestage method in 1996 and subsequently began using it for all red wines from the 1997 vintage. Maturation lasted one year and took place in 225 litre barrels (of which 5% was new oak) and 4,000 and 2,700 litre oak casks. The wine was then released after three to four month of bottle ageing.
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