Isole e Olena - Cepparello 2019 (750ml)

 

WA

97

V

96

Price: $154.99

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Quantity in Stock: 23

100 Pts Lisa Perotti Brown

Producer	Isole e Olena
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Varietal	Proprietary Red
Vintage	2019
Sku	210000002307
Size	750ml

Isole e Olena - Cepparello 2019

Refinement & Class in a Glass. Will Floor You!
 Rivals greats like Sassicaia; Ornellaia at a Fraction of the Price!
 
If you love Tuscany, one of the all-time greats is Isole e Olena's Cepparello. This is Italian Super Tuscan at its absolute finest. Simply put, this is an utterly thrilling wine that will be a joy to follow over the coming years. In many ways, the restraint, elegance, and polish all suggest Cepparello is the Haut-Brion of Tuscany’s high-end, pure Sangiovese. Proprietor Paolo de Marchi crafts some of the most engaging wines in all of Tuscany, and of Italy for that matter. When Sangiovese is done right, it's one of the most ethereal wine-drinking experiences on the planet. Bordelais opulence with Burgundian elegance!

Cepparello is truly one of the greatest Italian red wine experiences on the planet. As one of famed winemaker Paolo de Marchi's last offerings, every collector needs to take a long look at this spectacular offer! Paolo de Marchi, former proprietor, and winemaker of Isole e Olena was one of the most respected winemakers, not only in Italy, but in the whole world. Paolo is often referred to as “The Dean of Chianti”. The Isole e Olena estate was sold in 2022 to the EPI group (owners of Charles Heidsieck Champagne and Biondi Santi Brunello). This is one of the last vintages produced by this Tuscan legend. 
 
The 2019 Cepparello has achieved greatness, receiving a monster 100 Pts from Lisa Perrotti-Brown formerly of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. She has gone into detail in her review below about this wine’s greatness. Parker also chimed in with 97+ Pts on Cepparello in the 2019 Vintage.
 

Winemaker Notes: The flagship wine consists of 100% Sangiovese aged in French oak barrels. Over the years, Paolo has refined his Cepparello by giving it more air during vinification and increasing time spent in oak from 12-14 months to 18-20 months. Although De Marchi started focusing on the use of better quality oak around 1993, it is the increased age of the vineyards themselves that have given Cepparello its overall finesse. The wine is made from a top selection of the estate’s best fruits from the vineyards in Barberino Val d’Elsa in the northern part of Chianti Classico.

100 Pts Lisa Perrotti-Brown - "Paolo de Marchi’s leaving present to Tuscany is this delightful 2019 Isole e Olena Cepparello. Cepparello is a blend of Sangiovese from different vineyards, selected by De Marchi on the basis of "the best exposure, elevation, soil, genetics and age. I feel this adds complexity.” The first vintage was in 1980 when 100% Sangiovese was not permitted under the Chianti Classico rules. Those rules have since changed but the wine remains an IGT Toscana. It has a supremely enticing nose with cream and exotic spice, reminding me of Arabian spice markets. With the 2019 there is an added precision to the aromas, less heavy oak, and no greenness on the palate. It is concentrated with a rich velvety texture but without any heaviness and with a gentle unforced quality. The tannins are fine and very well integrated, in fact finer and better integrated than even the excellent 2016 vintage. It is of course very young now but it’s almost too delicious not to drink! Supremely graceful, it just gets better and better."  

 

One of the icon wines of Tuscany, the Isole e Olena 2019 Cepparello is all Sangiovese crafted by the loving hands of a winemaking legend, the great Paolo de Marchi (who finalized the sale of his beloved estate when this wine hit the market). Indeed, this wine opens a discussion on the future of this celebrated IGT Toscana, a wine that followed a strict vision and style under De Marchi. It is elegant and rich with fine aromas of black and purple fruit. It ferments in oak and ages in French barrique for 20 months, with one-third new oak. With 58,000 bottles released, this is a sure candidate for long cellar aging. 97+

Paolo De Marchi’s decision to sell Isole e Olena was on every producer’s mind when I visited Chianti Classico recently. Never one to hold back his opinions, De Marchi quickly established himself as a leader in the appellation with a series of stunning wines and a relentless drive to build the reputation of his estate. I can still remember the first time I tasted the flagship Cepparello. I was probably in my mid-twenties, and yet the wine was so distinctive I have never forgotten it. While focus has always been on Sangiovese, De Marchi is one of the few producers in Tuscany who has also excelled with Chardonnay, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon, as I have personally seen in tasting many older vintages here over the years. To say that Paolo De Marchi will be missed is a massive understatement, but words aren’t really adequate to express all he has achieved and contribute in a long, storied career that goes back to the mid-1970s