2016 Isole e Olena - Chardonnay Collezione de Marchi
Market price
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 2016 Chardonnay is fresh, vibrant and beautifully articulated. Varietal notes abound. Light tropical notes, pineapple, mint and orchard fruit are all laced throughout. Partially blocked malolactic fermentation keeps the flavors bright. Creamy and layered, the 2016 is exquisite in its beauty. More importantly, this is one of the very few Tuscan Chardonnays that merits serious consideration.
Critic scores
James Suckling
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The Isole e Olena 2016 Chardonnay Collezione Privata is a solid and tight expression that should hold steady over the course of the next decade. The bouquet is redolent of apricot, tropical fruit, honey and toasted pine nut. You are also treated to a pure note of flinty minerality that always comes through in this wine. This Chardonnay requires a few extra years of bottle aging before it reaches its optimal drinking phase. The wine is barrique aged on the lees for 11 months, with just 30% new oak. Some 22,000 bottles were produced.
A pretty chard, showing limes, green apples, kiwis, cinnamon and vanilla. Full body, creamy texture with fresh acidity. I like the roundness here. The finish is harmonious and long. Drink or hold.
About the producer
Situated north of Castellina, on the western side of Chianti Classico, Isole e Olena was created by the De Marchi family in the 1950s and has since become one of the region’s leading names. It is renowned for its top bottling Cepparello, a pure Sangiovese, as well as its brilliant Chardonnay.