Isole E Olena Privata Chardonnay

The name 'Isole e Olena' came about in the 1950s when two adjoining estates, 'Isole' and 'Olena', were purchased by the De Marchi family and combined to form one. The history of both estates’ dates back many hundreds of years, and the earliest documentation of the village of Olena goes as far back as the 12th century. During the 1950s, the De Marchi family planted specialised vineyards and expanded the cellars. Today, the estate is fifty hectares and run by Paolo De Marchi and his wife Marta. Paolo comes from a family with three generations of winemaking experience in the northern part of Piemonte and his older son, Luca, now runs the family estate there.

The fruit for this wine come from five hectares vineyards located on the North-Eastern side of the estate at an altitude of 400 meters above sea level. Soil here is a mixture of limestone, marl and clay slates. The vines are thirty to fourty years old and trained with Guyot system. Paolo De Marchi grafted Chardonnay onto existing vines on the Isole e Olena estate and 1987 became the first vintage.

In 1989, a new vineyard was planted with five different clones from Burgundy (planted at a density of 5,000 vines per hectare) which came in to full production with the 1994 harvest. Chardonnay is selected in the vineyards and picked by hand, set in crates and kept at cold temperature if not immediately pressed. After pressing with a pneumatic press, the must remained one night in stainless steel tanks at cool temperatures to settle. After the yeast’s inoculation, the must was moved into 228 litres barrels of French oak, of which a third is new, where it remained on the lees for ten to twelve months. During the first six months the lees are stirred weekly (bâtonnage). Partial malolactic fermentation is allowed to occur, and after a light filtration the wine remained in bottle for 6 months at least.

Light greenish gold in colour, the Chardonnay on the nose has spicy, buttery aromas. On the palate, it balances ripe, buttery fruit, fresh bread crust from the oven, with a hint of spice from the oak ageing and a long, slightly citrus finish.