2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Sassetti Livio Pertimali

Radiant and essential offering scents of raspberries, dried cherries, green tea leaves and crushed rosemary. The elegant and centred secondary profile reveals a solid precision of execution and impressive integrity of the fruit. Medium bodied, silky tannins well extracted and integrated in the matrix, a distended finale with a long tight closing that is slightly bitter. Modern and visionary it will give more over time. Better from 2022.

Really pretty, sweet berries, cherries and fresh flowers on the nose. Orange peel, too. It’s medium-to full-bodied with very fine tannins that are polished and attractive and melt into the wine. Such purity and finesse. Drink or hold.

Blood and iron mark the aromas of this powerful red, with ripe flavors of plum, black cherry and fruitcake. Very long, fresh and balanced, with the dense, dusty tannins softening and integrating with a few hours aeration. Best from 2025 through 2047.

The 2015 Riserva is full of rustic aromatics, along with leather, dense black cherry and plummy fruit. Underneath the intensity of the nose, there is a full-bodied core with a softer, more fruit forward and mouthfilling palate. The tannins are fine-grained and give way to the generosity of the vintage. Drink 2024-2034.

Livio Sassetti was one of the founding members of the Brunello di Montalcino consorzio in 1967. Today, winemaking is in the hands of the fourth generation with his son Lorenzo at the helm. Unequivocally earthy and savoury in personality, this Riserva exhibits intense iron, leather and tar, with grilled rosemary and sage aromas in the background. The palate is muscular and firm yet somehow light on its feet. Dry, chalky tannins are substantial but leave space for wild berries and quite a succulent and mineral-driven core. In the spirit of Riserva, however, this needs time.