Wine Advisor
Isole e Olena, Cepparello Toscana 2010
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This is tangy and delicious with blueberry and cherry character. Full body, with slightly chewy tannins and a bright acidity with a clean and tangy finish. So delicious to drink now. Drink or hold. Sangiovese.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Evolved wine, showing aromas of tobacco leaves, oak bark, tamarind, carob and bergamot. Full-bodied and creamy on the palate, due to the matured tannins, with a hint of rusticity and leathery flavors, yet it displays cherry energy and crisp acidity. Still chewy in the aftertaste. Drink now.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
At times the 2010 Cepparello reminds me of the 2004, but with more depth. Finessed tannins frame the fruit in this medium-bodied, totally gracious Cepparello. There is no shortage of personality here. Production was down in 2010 owing to a difficult and fickle growing season. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2035. Proprietor Paolo De Marchi has left an indelible and highly personal stamp on Isole e Olena, and all of Chianti Classico for that matter. Originally of Piedmontese descent, De Marchi stands apart from many of his colleagues for his vocal opinions and intense dedication to the vineyard above all else. Since taking over his family’s estate in the late 1970s, De Marchi has transformed Isole e Olena into a powerhouse. The flagship Cepparello is 100% Sangiovese aged in French oak barrels. This nearly complete vertical charts the history of one of Tuscany’s most compelling wines. The first Cepparellos were vinified in cement. The cellar was heated to induce malolactic fermentation and the wines were subsequently aged roughly equal parts Slavonian oak casks and smaller French oak barriques, with a dollop of chestnut barrels thrown into the mix. It was a time of enormous sacrifice, given that green harvesting was viewed as throwing money out of the window, and every purchase of new French oak barrels was accompanied by a stern reprimand from De Marchi’s father to pay attention to costs. But De Marchi persevered. The fruits of his hard labor and pricing are amply captured in these magnificent wines.Over the years Cepparello has acquired a level of finesse it rarely had at the outset. Some of the refinements include giving the wines more air in vinification and an increase in the period of elevage in oak from 12-14 months to 18-20 months, which is the norm today. De Marchi says he started getting better quality oak around 1993, but it is the increased age of the vineyards themselves that have given Cepparello its finesse. Isole e Olena Cepparello Key Points: 1. 100% Sangiovese aged in French oak barrels 2. The top selection of the estate’s best fruits from their vineyards in Barberino Val d’Elsa, in the northern part of Chianti Classico 3. A style that emphasizes finesse over power, especially with bottle age 4. Aging potential: 20+ years
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The extraordinary 2010 Cepparello (100% Sangiovese aged up to 18 months in oak, one-third new) presents fine nuances of red berry, cherry, spice, tar, licorice, wet earth and forest leaf. The bouquet is very elegant but this wine delivers power too with tight structure that immediately wraps around the palate. Somewhere in the crossroads between tradition and modernity, Cepparello is a stunning wine. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2030. Importers: Petit Pois Corp., Moorestown, NJ; tel: (856) 608-9644; Chambers & Chambers; www.chamberswines.com; The Country Vintner; www.countryvintner.com; Carolina Wine Company; www.martignetti.com
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Isole e Olena's 2010 Cepparello is magnificent. In particular, I admire the way the wine fleshes out in all directions, with seemingly endless layers of dark, mineral-infused berry, plum and pomegranate notes. A primal wine in need of significant cellaring, the 2010 is easily one of the highlights of the year. Bright, saline notes support the precise finish. Today, the 2010 is naturally quite backward and undeveloped, but it should be a gem in another 5-10 years. This is an especially dark, structured Cepparello built for the cellar. The 2010 brightens up with time in the glass, but it remains one of the darker, more brooding wines made in the estate's history.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
At times the 2010 Cepparello reminds me of the 2004, but with more depth. Finessed tannins frame the fruit in this medium-bodied, totally gracious Cepparello. There is no shortage of personality here. Production is down in 2010 owing to a difficult and fickle growing season.
About the Producer
The Isola et Olena Estate, run by Paolo de Marchi, is yet another property that has seen a dramatic rise in quality over the last few decades. Paolo's family, originally from Piedmont, purchased the estate in the 1960s. His attention to detail in both the vineyard and the winery was the driving force that turned quality around. The wines have Cepparello at their head, a barrique-aged Sangiovese classified as an IGT - because at the time of its creation in the 1980s a wine comprising 100% Sangiovese could not legally be labelled as Chianti. There is a Chianti Classico and a Vin Santo, as well as some excellent wines from the Collezione de Marchi label, including a Syrah called Eremo, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay
