Isole E Olena Chianti Classico 2009

The name “Isole e Olena” was conceived in the 1950’s when two adjoining estates, “Isole” and “Olena” were purchased by the De Marchi family and were combined to form one. The history of both estates dates back many hundreds of years, and the earliest documentation of the village of Olena as far back as the 12th Century. Isole was founded as an agricultural farm in the 1700’s by the Elmi family who retained control of it until the present century. Isole is now the center of production for the Isole e Olena estate.

Beginning of the 1950’s the De Marchi family began gradually phasing out the sharecropping system. New specialized vineyards were planted and the wine cellars were expanded. Today the Isole e Olena estate is run by Paolo De Marchi and his family. Paolo comes from a family with three generations of winemaking experience in the northern section of Piedmont. He was raised in close contact with the wine world as he has always enthusiastically followed the development of his grandfather’s estate located near Gattinara, Villa Sperino, where Lessona wine is produced.
The Isole e Olena Chianti has evolved from being a light, young wine to the fuller-bodied wine destined for cellar aging. Simultaneously in 1980 Paolo experimentation lead to the production of a wine made exclusively of Sangiovese grapes called Cepparello.
The Isole e Olena estate is located in the central part of Chianti Classico in the San Donato in Poggio region. It lies to the north of the town of Castellina in Chianti and to the south of the Pesa river. It stands at an altitude of 400 meters and receives approximately 900mm of rainfall annually. The soil is a mixture of rock, sandstone and clay which allows sufficient drainage in times of heavy rains and the retention of moisture in times of drought.
The vineyards are on average of 16 years old with a portion being 40 years old.