Tassi Rosso di Montalcino Tassi 193 Greppino 2019

Triple 93 POINTS! This is a Brunello in all but name – as amphorae aging is not allowed for the classification. But when it comes to Fabio Tassi – there is no doubting this pedigree. Our last offer of the previous of this sold out like lightning – but the 2019?! Move fast or say goodbye forever!

Oh yeah – best price in the USA on this beauty… and it’s not even close! We shared this bottle back in April at a little Osteria in Verona with the man, Fabio Tassi, himself! Sure, he doesn’t speak much English, and yes, we could really use some work on our Italian – but a wine like this needs little explanation! (And his lovely wife luckily spoke a bit of both to help us all out.) Il Greppino is site for this utterly fantastic Baby Brunello – undoubtedly named with a wink for the legendary Biondi Santi’s Il Greppo site just a stone’s throw away. Fabio’s grandfather was a long-time grape grower for the iconic producer, and these vineyards are in the heart of Montalcino, standing tall at nearly 1200 feet in elevation.

For a few years now, Tassi crafted this 100% amphora-aged, not technically “Brunello”, Brunello. Raised in amphora – for 6-8 months, from grapes grown on the warmer side of the appellation, in Castelnuovo dell'Abate. These are the same exact grapes that go into his $125+ Brunello, just raised in amphora and not according to the laws of Brunello, so therefore, categorized as an IGT instead. If you have any lingering doubts… allow these quips from critics to lay them low:

“I could see choosing this wine over a Brunello, in fact, with the right pairing and in the right company...” -The Wine Advocate

“The Greppino 193 is a baby Brunello by all scopes of the imagination.” -Vinous

Alright...feel better? Just wait until you pop your first bottle of this! These organically farmed Brunello grapes are fermented with indigenous yeasts and little to no intervention – safely locked away in amphora to do its thing. With global warming pushing the climate in Montalcino to record heat waves far more frequently than in years past, methods like this are becoming more and more common to retain acidity and keep the wines fresh. One sip is all it takes to realize this is simply a wonderful expression of sangiovese – pure, clean, mineral, complex, and driving with pure red fruits. Tart cherries and black licorice, wild alpine strawberries and rosemary, cedar, and slate...this is a fresh, taut, and crazily complex beast of a Baby Brunello – and the perfect conditions of the legendary 2019 harvest has this sure to be singing for another decade to come!

We can’t say enough about this rare bottling – Brunello purists and the sangiovese-curious should DEFINITELY grab a few. We snagged a wee bit more this time around – but with the hype that has grown around this producer and these wines – expect 20 cases to go even faster than 10 did one year ago! We firmly believe that each and every sangiovese drinker in the entire wine-loving world needs to try a bottle of this – and we certainly don’t have enough for that! Grab a couple for yourself, and you’ll be blown away!

PAIRING IDEAS: Fabio loves his Tuscan truffles. You can go spendy and get some fresh black ones or do it even more simply with good bread, excellent Italian melty truffle cheese (easily found), toasted or broiled, with a side of salty, cured meat. Perfection.