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5218 Lawton Avenue
Oakland, CA 94114

510-654-9159

Oliver McCrum Wines has been importing small production Italian wine and distributing to fine retail and restaurant establishes throughout California since 1994. Over time, our portfolio of producers has steadily grown to over 45 producers from 15 different regions of Italy. We look for typical Italian wines with clarity and freshness, usually made from indigenous Italian grape varieties using clean, transparent winemaking techniques and no obvious use of oak. 

Blog

Vinous Weighs in on 2022 + 2023 Chianti Classico

Michele Boscia

Istine’s Angela Fronti featured in Vinous’s Chianti Classico: Riding Out The Storm

Noting the weather challenges that Chianti Classico producers faced in 2022 and 2023, Antonio Galloni’s latest report for Vinous highlights the producers who managed to ride out the storm . “Those who were able to cope with those challenges turned out beautiful wines,” Galloni writes; “But there is no getting past the simple fact that quality is inconsistent across the board.”

One of the producers heralded by Galloni for quality in both vintages was Istine, which is no surprise. Angela Fronti is one of the most talented winemakers in the region and continues to lead the Chianti Classico youth moment. Galloni rated all of the wines from Istine highly, adding that Istine’s decision to pick “micro-blocks” across all vineyards based on ripeness accounted for the quality. Angela pointed out that Istine’s traditional strategy was to pick vineyard by vineyard, but was forced to pivot due to 2023’s growing conditions.

Another high point of Galloni’s round-up was the fresh crop of reviews for Castell’in Villa. “This is fabulous set of new releases,” he wrote; “Winemaker Federico Staderini continues to do a terric job in exalting the classicism that makes Castell'in Villa such an iconic estate. The 2020 Chianti Classico is one of the most alluring, flat-out delicious young wines I have tasted here in some time.”He adds that the 2019 Chianti Classico Riserva is “a heady, explosive Riserva that hits all the right notes.”

All of these wines are en route to the United States now - stay tuned!

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