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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.4 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 102 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Vinoevelo on 4/16/2024: Gorgeous Cepparello. Always so elegant and often overpowered when served with other Tuscan wines. Needed an hour or two of air to show its best. Still youthful. I'd wait 5+ years to open another if i had one. (165 views) | | | Tasted by sempervinum on 12/15/2023 & rated 93 points: 3 litri. At a perfect spot. Nice scents of fruit. Developes more body and structure after 30 minutes. Acidity is s bit high but integrates with more time. Good wine. (432 views) | | | Tasted by kevinpatrick on 5/2/2023: Return to Italy: Pio Cesare, Gaja, Oddero, Tignanello and more (Flour Shop, Charlotte, NC) (Charlotte, NC): Slow-ox for 3 hours before serving. From a Magnum. Nicely aromatic nose of dried cherries and raspberries. Ruby with slight browning on the edges. Super smooth on the mouthfeel – such an easy drinker. Excellent complexity and depth of rustic flavor – blackberry, red cherry, and tobacco. Long savory finish. Beautiful expression of a 100% Sangiovese Super Tuscan. Would be a capstone bottle at any other dinner. (1184 views) | | | Tasted by Vinnut on 2/6/2023 & rated 93 points: Dark ruby garnet in color with slight clearing at the edges. Full, forward & fragrant nose of ripe fruit aromas of cherries, blueberries & cassis with overtones of dusty/earthy & floral notes of violets, iron, herbs, leather, tar, anise, minerals & a hint of cedar in the background. Medium bodied with very good concentration of well balanced & smooth textured, ripe fruit flavors of cherries, blueberries & cassis with iron, herbs & minerals. Long lingering finish. Drinks quite well at present with decanting & airing but at 24 years of age, it is close to or at its peak of development. I don't see any further development occurring from additional aging although it should hold for a while longer. Fill was at lower neck; cork stained 1/4 but intact. (1283 views) | | | Tasted by Jsnelten on 9/6/2022 & rated 92 points: Ontwikkelde geur, tabak, gerijpt, fris zuurgraad, bittertoon, mooi, complex, rokerig, soja, iets vluchtig, shiitake (1554 views) | | | Tasted by Milos on 7/14/2022 & rated 93 points: This was a part of 1997 and 1999 Tuscan tasting including 3 Brunellos and 2 Super Tuscans, same producers from each year. Both the 1999 and 1997 were the stars of the tasting with the 1997 having slight edge. Very dark colour; no sign of over 23 years of age. Forward nose of blackberry, red cherry , a touch of wood and forest floor. The palate is intense, yet balanced with tannins well integrated, totally in balance. Very good finish. It has been six years since I had this one and there is still plenty of life left and I think still improving. I think I said that last time . (1645 views) | | | Tasted by Loathesome on 7/4/2022 & rated 93 points: A really glorious wine form a glorious Tuscan vintage. Good deep red colour, healthy rainsiny fruit with great length. Not overextracted and beautifully balanced. A really joy now. (1516 views) | | | Tasted by hsacks on 7/2/2021 & rated 92 points: Just a touch less complex and fresh than the 8/5/20 bottle but still very much intact and delicious. (2247 views) | | | Tasted by Rainbow88 on 4/3/2021 & rated 90 points: 1999 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT , Italy :dark opaque red; Nose: Red cherry , dried herbs , leather licorice and road tar ; Palate:raising and prune ; satin silky tanning , medium finish , very Sangiovese Tuscan red wine with aromatic spicy and barnyard . Need at least 90 minutes in the air . Mature but still very robust . (2164 views) | | | Tasted by J_H on 2/25/2021 & rated 93 points: no decanting, tasted blind
Nose: Initially medium intense, ripe aromas of leather, pelt and mushrooms with underlying red fruit. The wine becomes more and more youthful the more air is added. The red fruit, composed of strawberries, rhubarb, currants, shimmers through more and more. Also emerging are more and more dark fruits (blackberry), chocolate and the omnipresent Sangiovese nuances of herbs, pepper and tomato leaves. The barrique is very nicely integrated, nice hints of vanilla and cedar can be detected.
Extremely honest character, complex and wonderful depth.
Palate: medium in alcohol, high acidity and medium (+) tannins with grip present, which are also a little greenish/bitter. In the mouth it is riper fruits that fill the aromatic spectrum. Medium in body and intense in flavour.
Very nice to drink but a little longer (medium finish) should be the Cepparello 1999.
Still has a storage potential of + 5 years. (1947 views) | | | Tasted by La Sprezzatura on 2/10/2021 & rated 93 points: tasted side-by-side with Cepparello 2016
complex nose with tertiary aromas, ripe red fruit such as strawberry. hints of black berries as well. almost jelly-like.
on the palate very elegant with strawberries and rasberries, tannin still present but declining. high alc, very high acidity which leads to a nice drink flow. medium+ body.
very round and compact.
the only thing is that the tannins are a little bit "unripe".
can certainly hold for another 5+ years, but the wine is in a great spot right now. (658 views) | | | Tasted by bgrimm on 1/25/2021 flawed bottle: Bottle / cork in good shape but flawed - smelling like garden lovage. Sad ... (2033 views) | | | Tasted by DougLee on 1/16/2021 & rated 93 points: Opaque dark garnet. Fulsome, charged nose of sharp violets, voluptuous red cherry, leather, camphor, bits of tar, and holiday cake spices. Potent layers of plum, round dried cherry, leather, and polished earth on the satin-textured palate. Lively acidity and smoothed tannin. Long finish of burnished red fruit, leather, cherry, and hints of iodine. Gorgeous wine bursting with vitality. (1995 views) | | | Tasted by Ron Slye on 1/6/2021 & rated 92 points: Another example of good bottles versus good wine. This one was lovely. My guess is peak now or within the next three years. Lovely red fruit. Some subtle barnyard. Nice long finish with some fine almost chalky tannins. (1482 views) | | | Tasted by Ron Slye on 11/24/2020 flawed bottle: Corked. Though minor, still off putting. But there is some nice wine under this. Not the raisin prune in my previous bottles. Makes me think this batch was a problematic one in terms of storage before I bought them. (1542 views) | | | Tasted by pavel_p on 9/13/2020 & rated 94 points: Pnp at home. Immediately upon pulling the cork, this is an absolutely stunning Sangiovese with impeccable balance of fruit, acidity and structure. Wonderful clarity and delineation, and an elegant finish of very good length. With more air the fruit starts fading a bit and with that the acidity and tannins become more present. Also mature, tertiary notes appear. With even more air, around the 1.5h mark, the wine finds again it’s balance, without however entirely reaching the initial heights.
Overall a touch above a recent 97, and will have to open another 90 soon to make that comparison again. One of the greatest expressions of Sangiovese in my eyes, and still outstanding value. Drink up. (1792 views) | | | Tasted by hsacks on 8/5/2020 & rated 93 points: Deep red color. Aromas of red cherries, herbs and licorice with excellent depth and length and fully integrated oak and tannins. Very supple, complex and long on the palate. I couldn’t be more impressed with this 21 year old Super-Tuscan ( purchased 3/03) which was very fresh and intact upon opening and only improved over the ensuing 45 minutes of delicious consumption. (1470 views) | | | Tasted by Elegance on 7/25/2020 & rated 95 points: More and more I realise how important storage is. This has sat in my coolish cellar for 15 years. Compared to the other notes here, it would seem a different wine. Extraordinary concentrated black cherries with hints of bitterness I find unique to Italian wines. Yes, there is some signs of age, liquorice, tar, herbs and earth coated in soft wood spice. Lovely finish, alcohol fully integrated. Just lovely. Paulo di Marchi, the owner of Isole e Olena, once told me at a tasting that this was his favourite vintage, ahead of the 90, 93 and 97, so I stocked up. I thank him for that. (1416 views) | | | Tasted by Tim Heaton on 6/4/2020: Excellent. Quite the surprise after drinking three of these in the past couple of years: one was DOA/maderized, another was ok, the other, quite good. But this!
Part of me (is this a natural reaction?) was wondering, just two sips into this, if (1) I had any more, and (2) if I was drinking the best bottle in my cellar, as surely the odds were against them. Well, come to find out (after I opened it), this was my final bottle. Another news flash, I've got hundreds of bottles that will either give this a run for its money, or eclipse it. Still, I had reason to worry; special bottles evoke such sentiment.
This was almost Bordeaux-like in that it was 20 years old, and clearly had lots left in the tank, with its deep, rich red fruits that had taken on an almost cassis-like quality. This gained a gentle, noble complexity with each subsequent pour. Four ounces saved for night #2, were just as good. In a perfect place, if you happen to have one of the bottles with the blessed cork. 14,0% abv. highly recommended
https://www.ItalianWine.blog (2211 views) | | | Tasted by Tony Molester on 5/26/2020: Single piece cork, no sign of seepage. 20% saturation.
decanted, tasted over 3 hours with dinner
This wine had a considerable time to wake up. Sadly it never really showed much of itself.
It was ripe fruited, blackberries, some herbs, some secondary development with balsamic notes. But well and truly tasted disjointed and underwhelming, not of a place. It didn’t have the briskness i associate with many chianti wines I’ve tasted in the last 20 years, but moreover its oak treatment imparts a sweetness that i found quite distracting.
Certainly plenty of people would disagree, but this failed to light any fires on this occasion.
14% abv (1665 views) | | | Tasted by Tim Heaton on 1/21/2020: #3 of 4, and this just continues to deliver a really lovely experience. To my palate, it's perfectly mature. I'll drink my final bottle within 2 yrs, but that's me; it should be ok for a few years beyond that, too. Medium bodied, plenty of fresh acidity, with perfectly integrated, very fine tannins. I love the marriage of place, and grape here...add to that the way the structure frames it all, and you've got a special (read: elegant) bottle of wine on your hands. Better with 60-90 minutes of air; 14,0% abv., cork, color and fill all in great shape. highly recommended
https://www.italianwine.blog (2788 views) | | | Tasted by Yankee Clipper on 8/17/2019 & rated 93 points: Surprising that it is holding up well for its age; still flavors showing nicely and not muted (2541 views) | | | Tasted by Ron Slye on 11/20/2018 & rated 87 points: Similar to my last bottle, the palate is dominated by raisins and prunes. It still gets a bit better with time but not as good as I remember last time. I fear I waited too long to start drinking these. (3037 views) | | | Tasted by Tim Heaton on 11/17/2018 flawed bottle: DOA, maderized. cork, color in good cond. (4167 views) | | | Tasted by LWI on 1/26/2018 & rated 92 points: Youthful, meaty, cherries, some bonfire smoke and sage, full bodied. Quite a bit of tannin still. (3625 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Isole e Olena Producer website
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)
Producer Location (Google Maps)SangioveseSANGIOVESE: (Pronounced "sahn-joh-vhe-se").
Sangiovese - Italy's claim to fame, the pride of Tuscany. Traditionally made, the wines are full of cherry fruit, earth, and cedar. It produces Chianti (Classico), Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montepulciano, Montefalco Rosso, and many others. Sangiovese is also the backbone in many of the acclaimed, modern-styled "Super-Tuscans", where it is blended with Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc) and typically aged in French oak barrels, resulting a wine primed for the international market in the style of a typical California cabernet: oaky, high-alcohol, and a ripe, jammy, fruit-forward profile.[16]
Semi-classic grape grown in the Tuscany region of Italy. Used to produce the Chianti and other Tuscan red wines. Has many clonal versions, two of which seem to predominate. The Sangiovese Grosso clone Brunello variety is used for the dark red, traditionally powerful and slow-maturing "Brunello di Montalcino" wine. The other is the Sangiovese Piccolo, also known under the historical synonym name Sangioveto, used for standard Chianti Classico DOC wines. Old vine derived wine is often used in the better versions, needing several years ageing to reach peak. A third clone, Morellino, is used in a popular wine blend with the same name found in the southern part of the province. Recent efforts in California with clones of this variety are very promising, producing medium-bodied reds with rich cherry or plumlike flavors and aromas. Among the available clonal versions are R6 and R7, derived from the Montalcino region of Italy, having average productivity/ripening and producing small berries on medium size clusters. R10 and R24 are well-recommended. R23, listed as deriving from the Emilia-Romagna region, has good vigor with medium-small clusters with earlier ripening. R102 derives from the Montepulciano region and reported to have average vigor with moderate productivity that results in higher sugar levels and good acidity from medium-small berries on medium-small clusters. Has synonym name of Nielluccio where grown in Corsica.Italy Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorTuscany Tuscany (ItalianMade.com) | TuscanytToscana IGTHere is the Wikipedia entry for Toscana wine. |
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