Isole e Olena Cepparello 2020

Isole e Olena Cepparello 2020

In the 1950s, the father of current winemaker Paolo de Marchi purchased the adjoining hamlets of Isole and 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. Paolo de Marchi is one of the region's kings of the Sangiovese grape and at a time when Chianti was a blended wine it was he that stepped out to produce wines that were 100% Sangiovese. Cepparello is the true embodiment of a ‘Super Tuscan’ wine and one of Italy's most iconic wines

The 2020 Cepparello is a total stunner, just as it was last year. Deeply colored, layered and explosive in the glass, the 2020 possesses striking textural richness and overall intensity. Black cherry, graphite, plum, spice and lavender flesh out effortlessly. There's tremendous pedigree and sheer stature here. Cepparello is surely one of the wines of the year. Drink 2027-2045. 98 points Antonio Galloni – Vinous

Supple and smooth, the 2020 Cepparello brings Sangiovese to soaring heights in a manner only Paolo De Marchi can manage. This is his second to last vintage before he would retire and sell this historic estate. The wine opens to medium to full-bodied concentration with dark plum and redcurrant. Those cede to sweet spice, earth, crushed stone, rusty nail and candied orange peel. Give the wine more time to flesh out with cellar age. It registers a powerful 15% alcohol content. Drink 2024-2045. 96 points Monica Larner – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate

Expressive and sumptuous from the get-go, this red features cherry, strawberry, rose, orange peel, mineral and Tuscan herb aromas and flavors. Sangiovese. Best from 2025 through 2045. 4,800 cases made. 96 points Bruce Sanderson - Wine Spectator