Isole e Olena, Cepparello, Toscana

WS 96 RP 96

2019 vintage

Extraordinary wine! Great balance between full-bodied and silkeness finale! Great year also!

2019 vintage

Beautiful expression of sangiovese here. Even at it's rather higher price range here in quebec canada very pleasantly surprised. Very fruit forward with ripe black and purple fruit. Full bodied with a elegant and savoury long finish. Super fresh and zero signs of the 15% alc. I found more than ready to drink with a couple hours decant but will probably improve. Definitely a under rated wine here imho. I will definitely be looking out for more in the near …

2019 vintage

Incredible fresh for a red wine. Very fruit in the mouth. Ready to drink

2019 vintage

Ruby. Only tertiary aromas. Underground, leather , mushrooms. Lots of sediment. Still standing. Structure is there well integrated acidity and tannins. Chocolate in the mouth. Beautiful wine but I wouldn’t hold much longer

1997 vintage

Simply a ripping vino!

2019 vintage

Showing great promise, huge tannins, lots of non fruit herbs notes in the nose - still too young.

2019 vintage

Big wine, cherry, dark berries, spice, tobacco, very firm tannins, built to age, too young to fully appreciate now, needs a lot of time

2019 vintage

10 Year Age & 2-3 Hours Open

2019 vintage

Elegant Cepparello with ripe berries, tobacco, and mineral complexity. Medium to full-bodied with a long finish.

2019 vintage

Lovely Tuscan vino. Great mix of red and dark fruit. Nice mouth feel and mild acidity. Really held up well over a few hours after opening.

2019 vintage

Mildly corked. No fruit on the nose and little on the palate. The second bottle we opened was fresh and balanced with robust fruit flavours.

2019 vintage

Young but approachable with a decant. Less acidity than the 16 but as much concentration. Black fruit and sage on the nose, medium + lenght, medium acidity. No alcohol sticking out. Worth cellaring for sure. Score likely to increase.

2019 vintage

Excelente supertoscano, feito com 100% de sangiovese

2019 vintage

This was clearly still very young and needed air for the acidity and tannins to subside into something a little more balanced. Really lovely pure red cherry with a hint of oak, some garrigue and earth. It was quite rustic on its own but with food became much smoother. I will wait a few years before opening another bottle.

2019 vintage

At Figaro Poznan. Young, fruitforward with dark red berries and some spice/herbs on the nose, unmistakeably sangiovese, medium body, high acid on the palate, tannins are dusty with a little grip, flavours echoing the nose with some distinct savoury and earthy notes going into a very long complex finish. Excellent wine, young but still great joy to drink now and a great match with mushroom ravioli. Very moderately priced at 490 pln. Will probably cellar very well, and would keep …

2019 vintage

Full bodied - young biut accesable Great bottle with wague tomahawk

2019 vintage

Love the bright acid, balsamic, montmorency verve here. I don't get any of the whiskey notes that Doc described.

1997 vintage

This bottle didn't seem to have anything left but the barrel notes. Maybe a touch of citrus for fruit, but no typicity left for this Sangiovese.

1997 vintage

Hmm. Clearly a well-made wine, but I struggle connecting with it. Weird chocolate syrup and whiskey notes. Excellent acidity, tannins, and flow. Pleasant coffee notes up front, but then they morph into the dregs of a bottle of Bailey's. Withholding. Some liked it, but I was underwhelmed. Don't know what to think about this.

1997 vintage

Amazing, even better the second day. Fruit forward, very drinkable.

2019 vintage

Drank this on the first day over several hours, then corked it to be had two days later. On the first day: - in the first hour, the fruit notes tended towards ripe strawberries with racy acidity and a very short finish - 3 hours in, the wine transformed towards dark fruits with blueberries, plums, lovely spice and tobacco notes with a medium long finish. The tannins were grippy, definitely will hold on to my other bottles longer.

2019 vintage

Such a wonderful wine. Sangiovese but with the French oak twist. Shows some darker cherry, pomegranate, tobacco, vanilla. Palate carries that Sangiovese line of acidity and tannic bite. Great now but should drink well for a long time 95+ tonight

2019 vintage

Sangiovese and Brunello tasting for my 38th birthday (Wine Taste Gdansk) : 👀 Deep garnet color. 👃 Incredibly complex nose, balsamic, sweet candied fruits (but suiting the overall profile), earthy, meaty, cigar, forest mushrooms. 👅 On the palate it had a little too much smooth feeling, even with high acidity it seemed a bit over the edge. 🏁 Non very long finish, another sign of aging. Drink NOW!

1997 vintage

Deep, robust, luscious, musky but not overwhelming with solid balance and an elegant and structured finish. Great stuff.

2019 vintage

tasted blind, big wine, dark fruits, dark cherry, blackberry, currants, spice, vanilla, solid structure, long finish, this is a beauty

2019 vintage

easily my WOTN. Such an exceptional wine. The Cepparello was amazing. Sangiovese aged in French oak. You get the red fruits (cherry, pomegranate, blood orange), baking spices from oak, vanilla, some tobacco, and creaminess but with a classic Sangiovese line of acidity. Extremely drinkable now but could also age a couple decades I imagine. Paired amazing with Italian style pasta and Kim’s homemade focaccia bread. I need more of these wines. I can see how it scored highly 97+ for …

2019 vintage

This is really lovely stuff now and will only get better over the next 10-15 years. If you have a case, pop open a bottle out of curiosity, but if not wait on it for now and enjoy in 2030. Great buy right now at $100.

2019 vintage

Dark ruby, rich dark cherry, spice, cedar, elegant yet powerful, long finish, tasted at Isole e Olena with Paolo Marchi who has sold the winery and is returning to his origins in Lessona Alto Piemonte

2019 vintage

LCBO Tasting This 100℅ Sangiovese is smooth elegant, and juicy. Probably the best cherry note I have tasted in Sangiovese or any wine perhaps. Orange, dried herbs, and mushrooms round out the palate. Not a complex wine yet, but this has not even begun its journey. Lovely stuff so far.

2019 vintage

Yet again I'm taken aback by the ability of top-tier Sangiovese to retain its power and vibrancy at 25 years and beyond. Initially popped and poured (cork in good condition, with very slight leakage), the 1997 Cepparello presented itself with a dark and lovely color, a delicate garnet rim and almost no signs of advanced age. On the nose, chocolate, herbs and leather, but slightly mute at first. In the mouth, fruit was locked up, hiding behind surprisingly firm tannins. …

1997 vintage

Complex and layered. Time to drink

1997 vintage

D'une jeunesse insolente..

1997 vintage

Presented itself as a grumpy uncle when I pulled the cork and poured a glass. After an hour or so, as the wine reached room temperature, it got more friendly and interesting. Cherries and plums, forestfloor, wet tea leaves, beefstock, tomato tapenade, cinnamon and warm chestnuts. Drinking very nicely now.

1997 vintage

This was a part of 1997 and 1999 Tuscan tasting including 3 Brunellos and 2 Super Tuscans, same producers from each year. The 1997 was the wine of the night. Very dark colour; no sign of over 25 years of age. Forward nose of blackberry, red cherry ,and forest floor with violets, almost perfumed . The palate is intense, yet very balanced in total balance. Long finish.

1997 vintage

My last bottle of the 97 Cepparello concludes a perfect pattern of an oxidative bottle being followed by a very good one like this (all bottles from the same batch and storage). Having said that, just as I was going to write that this Pnp bottle tastes at least 10 years younger than 97, I am starting to pick up one or the other more evolved note particularly on the nose as the wine gets more air. Overall clearly a …

1997 vintage

Typical sangiovese nose. Start to mature but long life ahead. Good stuff

1997 vintage

Hmmm… seems like this wine is 50-50…another oxidative bottle, musty acidic notes. Hope my remaining bottle(s) will not be like this

1997 vintage

Did not wait too long with my next bottle as the last one was showing oxidative but this was wonderfully fresh and clearly back to old form (see note from 2020). Benchmark Sangiovese in my eyes, and only very few Brunello can match Cepparello’s quality and longevity. Solid 93

1997 vintage

Only 6 months since my last and wonderful bottle of the 97 Cepparello, this one was unfortunately off. Animal notes on the nose, medicinal and slightly oxidative notes on the palate. Kept wondering if this was slightly corked. Hope my remaining three bottles will not be showing like this.

1997 vintage

Decanted for 2 hours prior drinking, good chunk of sediment separated. A fully developed wine and a great expression of what proper Sangio tastes like when 20 years old. Dead leaves, mushroom, dried cranberry on the nose. Palate is soft, with a fine grip of tannins and medium acidity. . Long, silky finish. Not going to improve from here and will only stay drinkable up to a year before it totally falls apart.

1997 vintage

Tasted blind. Light garnet color with a little brick rim. Typical Sangiovese nose with earthy notes, some rose petals, touch of dried fruit as well. On the palate this is dry and earthy but not drying. The tannins are well made here which makes this a classic and elegant Sangiovese expression from Chianti to accompany food very well. Fully mature but given how this is made will certainly last for some more years. 94+

1997 vintage

With each additional vintage of Cepparello I get to try, I am more impressed by Paolo de Marchi’s flagship wine - a true reference point for Sangiovese in my eyes. 1997 was of course an excellent vintage in Tuscany but the 97 Brunellos I have recently had seemed all slightly past peak already, and I would not hold them any longer. This Cepparello however, while also 100% Sangiovese, is not showing its age. Pnp. Great cork, only around 7mm soaked. …

1997 vintage

Over the hill IMO, but still very nice: Beautiful, clear red color. Fruit waning on the bouqet. Tertiary notes dominate. In the mouth, quite nice, fresh and pleasant, but would have been better a couple of years ago.

1997 vintage

Very good spot now

1997 vintage

From magnum, decanted 2 hours prior, dominant note of cherries, leather & menthol followed by fully integrated silky sweet tannins ending on a lengthy finish. At its peak drinking window where it will hold another 5 years.

1997 vintage

Sorry, for the points, a mistake, but it did reflect to the the value of this bottle.

1997 vintage

I do not rate this bottle, maybe I had expected too much, but this bottle lacked flesh, the wine seemed 'empty', tired, from start to finish no conviction.

1997 vintage

An oxidized mess.

1997 vintage

Dusty and leathery with dark fruit, showing a fair bit of tannin, a little disappointing until drinking it with pappardelle with a rabbit ragu when it comes alive.

1997 vintage

Are you sure?

Isole e Olena, Cepparello, Toscana

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews