2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Sassetti Livio Pertimali, Tuscany, Italy

Blackberries, black walnuts and black cherries, as well as loads of chewy tannins. Some smoked wood, wood tannins and even black truffles. It’s full-bodied and powerful with loads going on. It just keeps growing on the palate. So much wet earth and black olive at the finish with porcini mushrooms, too. Needs time to soften. Crazy finish. Try after 2025.james_suckling, jamessuckling_com (Jan 2021)

Muddled plum and cherry flavors are enhanced by leather, black tea and iron notes in this sleek yet beefy red. Chewy tannins line the finish, yet this remains lively and finds a nice equilibrium in the end. Best from 2024 through 2047. 4,600 cases made.Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator (Jun 2021)

From vines in the historic Montosoli area, in the north, the 2016 exhibits some rusticity with saddle leather, cherry pit, licorice and celery seed. There is concentration on the midpalate with drying tannins, and notes of amaro, and dried orange peel. Classic and savory, the 2016 has a long finish.Drink 2024 - 2034Jeb Dunuck, jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2021)

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is brooding and powerful, wafting up with a darkly floral mix of sweet mint, smoke and animal musk before a core of black cherry emerges. The textures are like pure, elegant silk, slowly draped across the palate, delivering an array of opulent black and red fruits contrasted by zesty citrus tones and spice. The sheer density here is amazing, but even more impressive is that the 2016 stays in perfect balance from start to finish, tapering off long, structured and classically dry. The Pertimali Riserva is created through a selection in the vineyard, and it spends 48 months refining in oak casks. There will be no Riserva created in 2017 or 2018.Drink 2026 - 2040eric_guido, Vinous.com.com (Dec 2021)

Red berry, violet and menthol aromas fill the glass alongside a whiff of underbrush in this full-bodied red. The tightly wound palate offers Marasca cherry, licorice, tobacco and a hint of game set against a backbone of assertive, fine-grained tannins. Flashes of bright acidity keep it balanced.Drink 2024 - 2036Kerin O'Keefe, winemag.com (Jan 2021)