Having just returned from several days touring in Montalcino, SommSelect Editorial Director David Lynch has lots of good things to say about the 2012 vintage and the enduringly classic style of producers such as Livio Sassetti.
As I write this, I’m shaking off the jet lag from my return from Tuscany, where Ian Cauble and I spent a few hard-driving days (in a tiny Fiat 500 that could barely hold us) searching for wines to offer here on SommSelect. I’ve been to Montalcino many times, but, as is true of any great wine region, there’s always something more to learn, something new to discover. I’m happy to report that we both learned a lot and found some very exciting new producers to share with you in the coming months. We also got a great read on all the most recent vintages in Montalcino, and there’s no doubt that the 2012, the vintage in current release, is a strong and consistent performer. We were loving the ’12s across the board—they’re showing great balance, freshness, and perfume despite hailing from a year that saw its share of intense heat. You’ll be hearing more about it (as well as the equally exciting 2013s) in the months to come, but in the meantime here’s one of the region’s most enduring classics: Brunello di Montalcino 2012 from the Livio Sassetti “Pertimali” estate. This wine is a standard-bearer for classically styled Brunello—i.e. Tuscan Sangiovese that has more in common with Burgundy than Bordeaux. As I noted in a past offer of Sassetti Brunello, what you get from these wines, vintage after vintage, is Sangiovese through and through. While Ian and I came across many “bigger” styles we found undeniably appealing, we always seemed to return to wines like this one: invigorating, aromatic, powerful styles that dance on the palate rather than attack it with blunt force. Despite Sassetti’s history and pedigree, this remains a remarkably affordable collectible that will only get better with time in your cellar.
Every time I return to Montalcino, I’m reminded of how incredibly dynamic this region continues to be. In the late 1960s, when the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG was first being codified, there were but a handful of established commercial producers. Now there are well over 200, working in the same relatively small, confined area—overall there are about 3,500 hectares of vines in Montalcino, with about 2,100 designated for the production of Brunello di Montalcino. Land values here are some of the highest in the wine world, and of course wine prices have generally followed suit.
Livio Sassetti was one of the 11 founding members of the Brunello di Montalcino producer’s consortium, which was created back in 1967—the same year Italy’s DOC(G) system was written into law. His property is one of two which bear the name ‘Sassetti’ (the other is Angelo Sassetti) on the “north slope” of the Montalcino hill. The two Sassettis own pieces of the farm historically known as “Podere Pertimali,” which occupies part of Montalcino’s famed “Montosoli” vineyard. Although Montalcino isn’t known for having much of the vineyard-designate culture that defines Barolo, or Burgundy, Montosoli’s cru status was given voice by the Altesino winery, which has bottled a vineyard-designate wine from the site since the late seventies. Montosoli is a rounded outcropping with 360-degree exposures, and Livio Sassetti’s parcel faces southeast.
A lot has been written about how “north slope” Brunellos differ from their counterparts grown on the south-facing slopes of the appellation—the village of Montalcino itself is like the cherry on top of a sundae, a classic fortified village with vineyards spilling down on all sides. When you pass through Montalcino proper and head down the “back side” of the hill towards Grosseto to the south, you’ve effectively crossed over into “Mediterranean” Tuscany—something that becomes immediately evident as the landscape completely opens up and flattens. Vineyards on the south slope tend to be harvested earlier than those on the north face, and are said to produce richer wines as a result. But the conventional wisdom isn’t always evident in the glass—with Sassetti, it is. This 2012 was aged for 36 months in large, used oak botti (the traditional vessel in these parts, more recently replaced by some with newer, smaller barriques) and then spent another 6 months in bottle before release.
I’d characterize this 2012 as slightly more structured and capable of longer aging than the 2011, but the two wines share the thing I love most about Sangiovese: it’s woodsy perfume. In the glass it is a deep crimson moving to slight orange reflections at the rim (Sangiovese, like Nebbiolo, isn’t supposed to be inky). Aromas of black cherry, fig, raspberry, currant, orange peel, and leather all skew the wine toward Burgundy more so than Bordeaux, to which Brunello is more often compared. The acidity is bright and refreshing, keeping the full-bodied palate lifted rather than syrupy, and the firm tannins form a frame around the rich, dark, earth-accented black cherry fruit on the palate. If you’re enjoying a bottle now, give it a rough decant about an hour before serving at 60 degrees in large Bordeaux stems. The real magic of this bottle lies a little down the road, however; I’d try to keep a few on hand to try between its 7th and 10th birthdays. Having just spent five days eating bistecca at nearly every stop, I’m not recommending steak this time: Pair the wine’s underbrushy goodness with another product of the woods: porcini mushrooms. They’re meant for each other. Salute!
