Isole e Olena, Cepparello 2012
$289.95
Out of stock
Description
Critics
“Pretty bright fruit with blackcurrant, violet and sandalwood aromas and flavors. Full body, firm and linear tannins and a fresh finish. Needs two or three years to soften. Cepparello is always a classic. Better in 2017”. – 94 Points, James Suckling.
“This is a landmark wine from Tuscany that continues to offer greatness even in the uneven vintages. The 2012 Cepparello is a gregarious and beautifully intense expression that speaks highly of this beautiful and somewhat isolated corner of the Chianti Classico appellation in Barberino Val d’Elsa. I must underline that this vintage is very different from the plump and extra round 2011 Cepparello that precedes it. In fact, I like the more austere style that is so confidently put on display in 2012. That streamlined power and forthcoming determination is well matched to the natural heft and density of this important Sangiovese-based wine. It shows excellent elegance, good tannin management, and a somewhat trimmed-down style. There’s no extra fat here and the inner fruit stands tall as a result. The first vintage of Cepparello was made was 1980”. – 93 Points, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.
Producer
In the 1950s, the father of current winemaker Paolo de Marchi purchased the adjoining hamlets of Isole e Olena and their estates in the Tuscan commune of Barberino Val d’Elsa. Paolo entered the business in 1976 and the quality of the estates’ wines improved rapidly after decades of sharecropping. Di Marchi is one of the region’s kings of the Sangiovese grape, at a time when Chianti was a blended wine it was he that stepped out to produce wines that were 100% Sangiovese.
