I Premi

Crazy aromas of dried lemon, sea salt and cherry and delicate rose petal. Full body, ripe fruit with amazing acid tannin structure. It works from the inside out with your palate showing an amazing center palate and bright acidity and tannin structure. Goes on for minute. Redefines Brunello. Drink now but better in five years. The greatest wine ever from here. (12/2014) JS

I am absolutely enthusiastics about Sassetti Livio Pertimali’s 2010 Brunello di Montalcino. Breathe deep into the glass and this wine awards you a beautiful sensorial experience that brings you immediately to varietal tones of pressed cherry, dried blackberry, spice and tobacco. The most compelling notes however are those polished mineral tones pf crushed granite and pencil shaving that add sharpness and focus. This is not a timid Brunello and you can taste the sheer power and the quality of the fruit on hand. The mouthfeel is polished and smooth with fine and exact textural richness. Bravo! Lorenzo and Sabina Sassetti created one of the Italian wines that impressed me most in 2010. I tasted this wine early in my tasting and it contributed generously to my opinion of this iconic vintage. It became a standard by which I judge the other wines of the region. I highly recommend this beautiful Brunello. ML

This features depth and complexity, from the cherry and menthol notes to the earth and mineral elements. Tightly wound, with a core of sweet fruit offsetting the burly tannins, this lingers on the finish, showing fine equilibrium and the potential to develop. Best from 2019 through 2035. 3,400 cases made. –BS Rated n.27 on Wine Spectator TOP 100 wines of 2015

Very pretty, with fine tannins and fresh fruit, medium body with sliced-peach and berry flavours. Fresh, bright finish. Drink or hold. JS

Rich, with black cherry and blackberry flavors tinged by tobacco and spice accents. Intense and elegant, with fine balance and a long, refined finish. Offers beautifully integrated tannins for the vintage. Drink now through 2030. BS

Aromatic, suave and silky, boasting aromas and flavors of flowers, cherry, strawberry and leather, all boosted by bright acidity and firm, well-integrated tannins. Refined and long, with a lingering finish of mineral and spice. Best from 2016 through 2035. BS

The Sassettis, whose original vineyards were in Sant’Angelo in Colle, in the Southern part of the zone, purchased the Pertimali estate on the slopes north of Montalcino in 1964. Since then, the wines have been elegant and perfumed. Lorenzo Sassetti, Livio’s son, manages 40 acres of vines planted in limestone and schist. The Sangiovese was fermented in stainless-steel tanks, then aged in large oak casks for 36 months.

A wine with a lovely richness and roundness with ripe berries and chocolate, hints of nuts. Full body, with silky tannins and a fresh finish. Sassetti always make generous and round textured Brunellos. Drink or hold. JS

A wine with loads of ripeness with dried strawberry, sliced plums and a peach undertone. Full body, with silky tannins and an intense finish. Super silky and fine. Greatest wine ever from here? I think so. Drink or hold. JS

Aromatic, with aromas and flavors of cedar, sandalwood, tobacco and leather surrounding a core of cherry and strawberry fruit. Firmly structured, with a long, refined finish. Best from 2015 through 2030. BS

A rich, silky red, full of sweet, ripe plum and prune aromas and flavours, but also iron and leather accents. The tannins emerge on the finish, reminding you that this will develop over the next 10 to 15 years. This has fine intensity. Best from 2014 through 2024. BS

Dried fruit on the nose, with an intensity and decadence. Full and chewy, with tannins and ripe fruit. A little raisiny in the end, but impressive. This still needs at least three to four year of bottle age. JS

Sour berries, tar, tobacco and new leather. An intensely ripe fruit palate with dry, fleshy tannins and firm acidity. One for keeping. Drink 2014-2020.

Extremely ripe and intense with dried fruits: strawberries and prunes. Full bodied, with dense and intense dried cherries and spices. So much going on it’s crazy. Drink now or hold. JS, Aug.2012

Extremely ripe and intense with dried fruits: strawberries and prunes. Full bodied, with dense and intense dried cherries and spices. So much going on it’s crazy. Drink now or hold. JS, Aug.2012

This rich red is packed with sweet cherry, plum, tar and licorice aromas and flavors. The tannins are dense, and this is balanced overall, with a lingering finish of sweet fruit and spice. Best from 2015 through 2032. BS

The 2005 Brunello di Montalcino is seriously dark, rich and intense. Black cherries, underbrush, new leather and licorice all come together in a sensual, powerful expression of Sangiovese. There is surprising depth to the round fruit. Though delicious today, this is one of the few 2005 Brunellos that needs bottle age for some of the tannins to soften. It is a fabulous 2005. There will be no Riserva in 2005 as Sassetti used all of the best fruit for the regular bottling. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2023. AG, April 2010

A rich and decadent Brunello with tobacco, berry and coffee character that turns to meat. Full and soft. Best after 2010. BS, October 2010

Lovely nose of ripe berry, earth and leather. Crushed cherry flavours with liquorice note. Long, linear and focused. 2011-2015. May 2010

The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva blossoms on the palate in a richly-textured, layered expression of Sangiovese that is a marvel to behold. The fruit remains extremely primary, and this is a Riserva that will require quite a bit of patience. The finesse of the tannins and the luxurious expansiveness of the fruit hint at what is to come. The future can only be bright for a wine of this exceptional pedigree. Might the 2004 be a modern-day version of the 1982? Anticipated maturity: 2014-2029. This is a fabulous set of new releases from Sassetti that readers will absolutely not want to miss. AG, April 2010

A very raisiny Brunello that verges on Amarone in style and character. Full-bodied, round and porty, with dried fruits and round tannins. Best from 2010 through 2016. JS, October 2010

Gorgeous nose, lovely ripe cherry-berry flavours with spice. Great balance and structure. Hallmark Brunello. 2015-2025. May 2010

Candied plum notes, with hints of flowers and mushroom, follow through to a full-bodied palate, with very soft, juicy tannins and lightly grilled meat, berry and fresh shiitake mushroom flavors. A decadent style. Best from 2010 through 2015. 1,800 cases made. JS

“Pertimali’s 2004 Brunello di Montalcino offers up floral red fruits, spices, leather and earthiness in a surprisingly medium-bodied style for this property. The wine possesses lovely length and refined, understated finish. The estate’s Brunello is quite open and accessible at this stage, and also more forward in its aromas and flavors than many other wines in this vintage, which suggests it is best enjoyed on the young side. AG

Blueberry and raspberry, with hints of vanilla and spices, lead to a full-bodied palate, with velvety tannins and a long finish. Needs time. Best after 2009. 2,400 cases made. JS

Full, fresh red. Subtly complex aromas of currant, plum, mocha, nutty oak and woodsy underbrush. Suave and fine-grained, with surprising freshness to the dark berry flavors in light of the rather low-toned nose. Not a hugely fleshy wine but boasts an understated density and very good life in the mouth-and gained sweetness with extended aeration. Finishes with broad, palate-dusting tannins and excellent length, structure and grip.

Pertimali’s 2003 Brunello di Montalcino is once again among the small number of wines being made in Montalcino that offers real character. This intense, powerful Brunello exhibits the essence of flowers, tar, smoke, dark cherries and wild herbs as it opens to reveal superb depth and concentration. The tannins of the vintage are present, but the wine’s sheer richness provides more than enough balance. A surprisingly fresh, long finish rounds out the wine. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2018. This venerable estate, one of Montalcino’s finest, continues to make wines of notable personality.

Pertimali’s 2001 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is vibrant and fresh, with compelling suggestions of violets, dark cherries, spices and minerals that emerge from the glass. It is a wine that possesses both massive amounts of fruit as well as imposing supporting structure. This refined, elegant, deeply-nuanced wine will need a few years to come together and I imagine it will still offer much pleasure at age 20. AG

Floral and berry character, with hints of cherry. Full-bodied, with soft tannins and lots of sweet, ripe cherry flavors. Best after 2009. 1,250 cases made. –JS

Deep red-ruby. Multifaceted nose offers currant, coffee, flowers, tobacco, licorice and animal fur, along with an elegant mineral quality. Sweet, lush, and broad, but with firm acids giving the wine an impossibly light touch. Conveys an almost saline sense of extract. Wonderfully broad, dry and long on the finish, with suave tannins and captivating nuances of leather, tobacco, earth and minerals.

The 2001 Brunello di Montalcino is a deeply colored, big, powerful effort. It shows masses of vibrant sweetdark fruit, smoke, tar and earth flavors with notable concentration one length on the palate. Still quite primary today, it offers outstanding potential, but a few years of patience are required. Anticipated maturity: 2008–2018.