Livio Sassetti (Pertimali) Visit

Busy day today…off to Pertimali this morning, and then lunch with Uccelliera. Walked to the Pertimali Estate on a gorgeous morning….

Some notes on what was tasted at the Pertimali Estate:

2007 Pertimali Rosso di Montalcino – Tank aged/no oak. Fresh, lovely fruit on the nose, and lively fruit on the palate as well. Has a bit of grip…this is made from young vines and the second selection of Brunello grapes. Aged for 12 months in stainless steel. Really nice, but probably not worth the $30 price tag.


2005 Istricia - La Querciolina - (Maremma) – 80% Sangiovese, 20% Ciliegiolo. Really nice purity and minerality with a lovely fresh quality and a bit of grip and tannin on the finish. Lively and fresh not, and over the next few years, the tannin should integrate quite nicely. Well done.

2004 Pertimali Brunello – Reserved and closed on the nose, giving off only subtle hints of leather with some underlying fruit. Full mouth-feel, but still relatively closed. Everything is integrated quite nicely, it just needs some time to evolve. Pertimali is consistently one of my favorite producers, and the 2004 Brunello is another winner.

2006 Pertimali Brunello (Barrel Sample) – The wine was sampled from a 76 year old barrel. Surprisingly, it is more forward on the nose than the 2004…softer and more approachable. As great as the ’04 is, I think that the 2006 will eventually turn out to be a nicer wine for me.


By the way, If you like Brunello, there is a string of excellent vintage coming up. Five in a row, as a matter of fact. The Brunello Consorzio rates each vintage on a 1 to 5 “star” system.

Only the very best vintages get 4 or 5 stars…

2004 5 stars
2005 4 stars
2006 5 stars
2007 5 stars
2008 5 stars

What a great time to be a lover of Brunello!