Isole e Olena
Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG
Chianti Classico
2013

The producer

Isole e Olena. Isole e Olena was created when the de Marchi family, in the 1950s, purchased two adjoining estates, Isole and Olena, and combined them to form one. In 1976, Paolo de Marchi, who’s father created the estate some twenty years earlier, took over the family property, and spend the next three decades replanting and improving the vineyards.

The 45 ha of vineyards are situated, at elevations of 350-450 m above sea level, in the western part of Chianti Classico, just north of the village of Castellina. The western part is much cooler, than the rest of the zone, due to it being open to cooling sea breezes, and thus the grapes tend to ripen later, have better preserved freshness and overall a more fragrant and elegant profile. Isole e Olena’s Chianti Classico is a blend of mostly Sangiovese with a soupcon of Merlot and is matured in second passage oak barriques.

The wine

Isole e Olena’s Chianti Classico Gran Selezione is a blend of mostly Sangiovese with a soupcon of Merlot which ferments in stainless steel with indigenous yeast and then matures in second use oak barriques, thus allowing for the crunchy depth of cherry fruit and herbs to shine fruit.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.