Winemaker Notes
An exceptionally dense and complex wine with intense dried cherries and spice notes. This 2016 Riserva is firmly structured with silky tannins and a long, persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Archetypal sangiovese with cherry and floral aromas as well as sandalwood. Medium- to full-bodied with firm, polished tannins. Tight and extremely structured yet there’s an impressive finesse and craftsmanship here. Fine velvety texture. Give it three to four years. Try after 2024.
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Wine Spectator
Enticing and harmonious, this red is saturated with blackberry, black currant, violet and mineral flavors. Intense and focused, even racy rather than concentrated and powerful, with a solid structure and lingering aftertaste. Terrific length. Best from 2025 through 2045.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Sassetti Livio Pertimali 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva reveals thick textural fiber and determined power. A core of dark fruit and black cherry is framed by spice, toast, pressed rose and earthy garden soil. It moves over the palate with a creamy, full-bodied approach. With 5,000 bottles made, this Riserva ages in Slavonian oak casks for a generous 48 months. That prolonged aging could have dried out the tannins, but this wine skirts past that problem. 2024 – 2040
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Wine Enthusiast
Classically crafted, this opens with earthy aromas of forest floor, woodland berries, leather, violet and crushed black olive. Savory and elegantly structured, the lithe palate features ripe Marasca cherry, crushed raspberry, star anise, truffle and the same black olive note from the nose. Taut, polished tannins and fresh acidity keep it balanced. Drink 2026–2031.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.