Solid, nicely aged sangiovese with dark fruit, walnuts and hints of leather and moist earth on the nose. Broad and velvety on the palate, with a medium body and smooth, well-integrated tannins. Supple, chocolatey finish. Drink now.

Packaged in a heavy glass bottle, this wine is held back and released at least 10 years after the harvest. The 2009 Sassontino offers good balance and ultimately tastes fresher compared to the other late-releases from this producer that I tasted at the same time. You get a good sense of dark fruit with dried blackberry and plum that is nicely fleshed out by spice, tobacco and tar. I also feel that this wine, made with Sangiovese from 50-year-old vines, has more complexity and aging potential.

Lovely old wine with spices, cedar and cherry on the nose and palate. Medium body. Creamy and polished tannins and a crisp finish. Drink now.

The Casanova della Spinetta 2008 Sassontino is a late-release wine that hits the market with 10 additional years of cellar age. A little seal on the front label confirms this special release. This wine is made with fruit sourced from Giorgio Rivetti's oldest vines, and the integrity of that fruit is carefully preserved. The wine shows a dark garnet color and rich concentration. To the nose, it reveals dried cherry and plum, with tertiary aromas of tarry smoke and dusty licorice root. The oak tones have ceded to dry spice and campfire ash. This cool 2008 vintage shows very elegant and fine results, making this a reasonably priced offer for those who adore aged Sangiovese.

Very attractive aromas of sage, plums, dried fruit and violets follow through to a medium to full body, round tannins and a juicy finish. Sort of dusty. Needs drinking, but a fun, old release.

Here is another late-release Sangiovese from Casanova della Spinetta, only in this case, fruit is sourced from precious 50-year-old vines. The 2007 Sassontino is a concentrated, thickly layered and aged wine packed tight with dried fruit, spice, smoke and tar. There is a lot of tertiary definition here, and unlike the other late-release wine, the Sezzana, this bottle is less oxidative and still shows some recognizable fruit. Roto-fermenters are used to obtain rich extraction, and the wine is aged in tonneaux for up to 14 months.

The 2006 Sassontino is a pure expression of Sangiovese from 45-year-old vines. Past editions of this wine saw a small percentage of Colorino (about 5%) in the blend, but I am told this is no longer the case. The wine ages slowly at the winery for ten years before its commercial release. This is an incredibly fine and elegant expression with wild berry aromas followed by balsam herb, cola and licorice. The vineyard site is characterized by loosely knit, sandy soils, and these contribute to the aromatic purity and finesse of the final result.

Deep, brilliant ruby with garnet shimmer. Compact and vivid on the nose, showing notes of liquorice, dark wild raspberries, blackberries, earthy tones in the background. Builds up nicely on the palate, lots of ripe fruit, notes of plums and ripe cherries, then opens up with hearty, grippy tannins in many layers, long finish, salty.

"The 2004 Sassontino is made in a similarly intense style, but it possesses a more layered expression of fruit. The wine took quite a bit of time to open in the glass, yet it offers outstanding potential. There isn’t a whole lot of Sangiovese typicity here, but this is very pretty wine nonetheless. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2019. Giorgio Rivetti’s Tuscan wines continue to show improvement. Interestingly, Rivetti prefers medium-sized barrels for his Tuscan wines as he found the smaller 225-liter barrels didn’t allow his Sangiovese-based wines to express the full breadth of their qualities."