Pertimali (Livio Sassetti), Brunello di Montalcino 2016

At 97 points, the 2016 sits among the top-scoring vintages in the Pertimali Brunello back-catalogue, yet trades comfortably below the price-to-score trendline established across the estate's recent releases. The comparably rated 2010 vintage currently changes hands at close to double the 2016's market price, highlighting the relative value available in the more recent release and the potential for price convergence as the wine matures.

Brunello di Montalcino remains one of Italy's most actively collected categories, and the 2016 vintage carries unusual weight: The Wine Advocate awarded it a 98-point vintage rating, the highest score it has assigned to a Brunello vintage to date. That generational quality signal, combined with Pertimali's classical structure and fine-grained tannins, positions the wine for a long secondary-market window.

• Top Tuscan vintage: 2016 is the highest-ranked Brunello vintage to date per The Wine Advocate, earning an extraordinary rating of 98 points.


• Prized Montosoli terroir: The Pertimali vineyards sit on the Montosoli hill in northern Montalcino, a cool, well-ventilated site regarded as one of the finest addresses for Sangiovese and often described as the appellation's unofficial Grand Cru.


• Critic recognition: Eric Guido of Vinous scored the wine 97 points, calling it the best young wine he can remember tasting from the estate.


• Ageing potential: A classical structure and high-quality, fine-grained tannins give the 2016 a long drinking window and the cellaring potential collectors look for.


• Relative value: The 2016 sits among the top-scoring vintages on the price-to-score chart yet trades comfortably below the trendline, with the comparably rated 2010 currently trading at close to double its price.

The Sassetti family has farmed in Montalcino for more than a century. Livio Sassetti was among the founders of the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino in 1967, and in the late 1970s he acquired Podere Pertimali, a 16-hectare estate on the Montosoli hill north of the town. Montosoli is widely held to be one of the finest sites for Sangiovese in the appellation, and the estate has built its name on classical, age-worthy Brunello that reflects it.

Today Livio's son Lorenzo runs the estate with his wife Sabina, continuing the traditional, terroir-driven style that has made Pertimali a long-standing favourite among Brunello collectors.