Tuscany
Est. 1956 
10 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required 
Wine area
Chianti Classico
The galestro and alberese hills between Florence and Siena, where Sangiovese became Italy's most quoted red.
Isole e Olena
Isole e Olena is one of Chianti Classico's benchmark estates, made of two old hamlets a kilometre apart in the hills of Barberino Tavarnelle between Florence and Siena. Francesco De Marchi joined the two villages into one estate in 1956. It is the birthplace of Cepparello, the pure Sangiovese that helped change Tuscan wine. His son Paolo picked out his best Sangiovese vines year by year, and Cepparello, begun in 1980, is still released every first of April. Tours and tastings can be booked from 30 euro a head.
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Wines from Isole e Olena
About Isole e Olena
Isole and Olena were once two farming villages of about 130 people, living off the land they worked for absent owners. In 1956 Francesco De Marchi, a lawyer from Piedmont, saw what the two hamlets could be and joined them into a single estate.
The old world soon fell away. Sharecropping ended by law in 1964 and the countryside emptied; in 1967 Chianti Classico won its DOC. A new era opened in 1976, when Francesco's son Paolo De Marchi took charge. Each year before harvest he tied ribbons around his most promising Sangiovese vines. After years of watching, he knew exactly which were his best, and he propagated them in a parcel of their own.
Out of that patience came Cepparello, begun in 1980. At the time the Chianti Classico rules still forced other grapes into the blend, even white ones. A pure Sangiovese had to stand outside the rules. It still does, by choice: Cepparello is bottled as Toscana IGT and released each year on the first of April.
In 2022 the De Marchi family handed the estate to Christopher Descours and his family. The long-serving team stayed on, with Emanuele Reolon directing. The range is compact: Chianti Classico, Cepparello, then a Chardonnay, a Syrah and a Cabernet Sauvignon under Toscana IGT. There is also a Vin Santo del Chianti Classico and the estate's olive oil.
Visitors can choose a short tasting of three wines with the estate's olive oil, or a full vineyard and winery tour. The top visit, named after Cepparello, ends with Vin Santo. Private tailor-made tours can be arranged on request. All visits are booked ahead.
Plate I · TUSCANY
Isole e Olena on the Tuscany wine atlas
Winery
Isole e Olena
Barberino Tavarnelle, FI · Chianti Classico
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
3 bookable experiences at Isole e Olena
3 tastings, checked by our editors. From €30.
Tasting
Essential tasting
45 minutes
From €30 per person
A tasting of three wines and the estate's extra virgin olive oil.
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on isoleeolena.it
Tasting & Tour
Classico tour and tasting
1 hour 30 minutes
From €50 per person
A tour of the vineyards and winery, then a tasting of three wines and the estate's extra virgin olive oil.
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on isoleeolena.it
Tasting & Tour
Cepparello visit
1 hour 30 minutes
From €88 per person
The estate's top visit: vineyards and winery, then three wines, the olive oil and Isole e Olena Vin Santo to finish.
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on isoleeolena.it
Not seeing the estate you want? Estates without an online listing are reachable directly, and their phone and email are in Plan your visit.
Plan your visit
Localita Isole 1, 50028 Barberino Tavarnelle, Firenze (Toscana)
What Isole e Olena makes
Isole e Olena's current bottle selection is led by Toscana IGT. The clearest grape signal comes from Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc.
Common questions
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Isole e Olena's flagship: a pure Sangiovese begun by Paolo De Marchi in 1980, when Chianti Classico rules still forced other grapes into the blend. It is bottled as Toscana IGT by choice and released each year on the first of April.
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