2020 Isole e Olena, Chianti Classico, 12x750ml
Alcohol: 14%
Availability: In stock
Case size: 12 / Bottle size: 750ml
Duty Status
From £225.00
Critics Score: 93
Publication: James Suckling
Lots of ripe fruit flavors with orange peel and stony minerality. Medium- to full-bodied with an array of round, velvety tannins. Even and broad with a lingering finish. Very attractive. Drink or hold.
The Vintage
The 2020 season started with a mild, dry winter. Temperatures dropped significantly in March and care was needed in the vineyard to prevent any frost damage to the vines. Summer was dry and mild with the steady conditions lasting until the end of August, when the region encountered bouts of rainfall. However, things had settled by harvest and yields were excellent both in quality and 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.
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.
The 2020 season started with a mild, dry winter. Temperatures dropped significantly in March and care was needed in the vineyard to prevent any frost damage to the vines. Summer was dry and mild with the steady conditions lasting until the end of August, when the region encountered bouts of rainfall. However, things had settled by harvest and yields were excellent both in quality and 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.
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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