2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Franci, Riserva, Tassi, Tuscany, Italy

2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Franci, Riserva, Tassi, Tuscany, Italy

Product: 20168150208
Eric Guido, Vinous93+/100
James Suckling98/100
Decanter94/100
Prices start from £195.50 per bottle (75cl). Buying options
2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Franci, Riserva, Tassi, Tuscany, Italy

Buying options

Available for delivery or collection. Pricing includes duty and VAT.

Description

Planted in 1979, this is a highly desirable spot; the terroir gives detailed, expressive wines. Fabio shares this hillside with Poggio di Sotto and Stella di Campalto. Blood orange, damson, earthy forest fruits and sweet oak spice lift the nose. The palate has a tight core of fruit and smoky mineral grip; time will reveal its true character.

Drink 2026 - 2042

Davy Żyw, Senior Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (Feb 2022)

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Critics reviews
Eric Guido, Vinous93+/100
The bouquet on the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Franci is deeply rooted in the earth, with notes of underbrush and crushed ashen stone giving way to black currants and savory herbs. It’s far more lifted and delicate in feel than anticipated, presenting a lovely inner sweetness and a pure display of tart woodland berries and hints of sour citrus, all motivated by bright acidity. The grippy tannins come forward through the finale, combining with a residual coating of primary concentration to create a black hole of structural tension. Keep your hands off of the 2016 for at least a few years, as the best is truly yet to come. The Riserva is produced from the Franci cru, fermented in cone-shaped Garbellotto vats and then aged in 10-hectoliter Slavonian oak for 36 months.

Eric Guido, vinous.com (December 2021) Read more
James Suckling98/100
The purity of the sangiovese fruit is so beautiful here with cherry, orange peel and cherry blossom, following through to a full body with firm, chewy tannins that are polished and very long. The real deal. One for the cellar. Try after 2024.

James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (November 2021) Read more
Decanter94/100
Tassi produces a Riserva from the estate’s oldest plantings. It hails from the Franci vineyard where vines are now over 40 years of age. An east- to southeast-facing parcel, it benefits from the gentle morning sun. The 2016 is well-defined with liquorice, bay laurel, plum and background notes of creosote and leather. Seductively textured tannins fill the mouth, becoming rather firm and resolute in their progression. This is robust and compact yet vibrantly complex. Finishes with traces of helichrysum. Drinking Window 2024 – 2039.

Michaela Morris, Decanter (November 2021) Read more

About this WINE
Tassi

Tassi

The Tassi family have deep roots in Montalcino. They have a legacy of working the vineyards of Biondi Santi and then as beekeepers, before turning their attention back to wine. Owner Fabio Tassi is a restaurateur, running the town’s flagship Drogheria Franci restaurant, and he owns its most prolific wine shop. His exposure to, and understanding of, Brunello’s wines, vintages and vineyards are greater than most – as are his relationships with many of the great winemaking families of Italy.

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Sangiovese

Sangiovese

A black grape widely grown in Central Italy and the main component of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano as well as being the sole permitted grape for the famed Brunello di Montalcino.

It is a high yielding, late ripening grape that performs best on well-drained calcareous soils on south-facing hillsides. For years it was blighted by poor clonal selection and massive overcropping - however since the 1980s the quality of Sangiovese-based wines has rocketed upwards and they are now some of the most sought after in the world.

It produces wines with pronounced tannins and acidity, though not always with great depth of colour, and its character can vary from farmyard/leather nuances through to essence of red cherries and plums. In the 1960s the advent of Super Tuscans saw bottlings of 100% Sangiovese wines, as well as the introduction of Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, the most famous being Tignanello.

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