Montalcino: not all zip codes are created equal
2015 Fattoria del Pino
Brunello di Montalcino
(Vinous: 93 points.)
Normally: $80. (See, e.g., here, in LA.)
Our price: Only $69 on 1! Buy here!
Only $64 on 6! Buy here!
Only $59 on 12! Buy here!
TL; DR: Get one of the classiest Brunellos to emerge from the much-ballyhooed 2015 vintage in Tuscany... for the best price in the US on bottle #1... and possibly the best price ever (over 26% off!) on the case! Organically farmed, woman-made, and highly rated, this is as long-term cellarable as it is summer-term gulpable... so case up while we've got it!
Before we get into the specifics, let's back up for a second: what is Brunello, anyway?
Well, if Burgundy's the apotheosis of Pinot Noir, and Barolo's considered the sanctum sanctorum for the Nebbiolo grape? Then the happiest of happy places for Sangiovese — a grape that's often considered to be Italy's greatest — is a little Tuscan town called Montalcino.
One of the zone's rising stars, and a woman whose wines make our vinous hearts skip a beat? A young woman named Jessica Pellegrini. Her Fattoria Del Pino holdings are in the heart of the Montosoli cru (considered by some to be one of the zone's "Grand Cru" sites), an easy jog north of the town of Montalcino — the same place, incidentally, that you find Altesini, Le Chiuse, and other Brunello legends.
Jessica & figlio in the vineyard
Jessica's a one-woman show, managing both vines and cantina: she farms organically, and is a strict minimalist in the cellar. And with less than 0.5 hectares of vines for her Brunello, to say this is limited production is an understatement!
For those of us that believe Sangiovese should be governed by balance, and not massive, over-muscled heft? That Brunello should have aromatic lift and nerve, in addition to a powerful, earthy core? This is that thing. 
2015 was a "five-star" Brunello vintage: what Vinous magazine called "a vintage of power and purity, the result of a long growing season with no extreme events." But — can we be honest? Easy growing seasons don't always mean great growing seasons, and as Eric Guido of Vinous pointed out, while everyone made "good" wine in 2015... only the greatest of winemakers made great wine:
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"The winemaker of La Serena called the 2015 vintage "A vintage made by God." What he meant was that everything seemed to fall into place, and all a winemaker had to do was sit back and watch the vines fend for themselves. But this is where many producers failed, and why I find the 2015 Brunello vintage to be a minefield of great wines dispersed amongst a sea of merely pleasurable ones."
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Sangiovese's happy place: Fattoria del Pino
Here at Vintage Berkeley? We love a good skeptic! And one of the few 2015 Brunellos even he singled out as definitively marked by greatness? You got it:
"The 2015 Fattoria del Pino Brunello opens with a zesty red berry display in its bouquet, complemented by sweetly-spiced violet and offset with a hint of animal musk; it gives the bouquet both a seductive fruity quality and an alluring rusticity. On the palate, soft textures play host to pure, sweet red fruits, contrasted by hints of spice and some of the prettiest inner florals I’ve ever experienced. The finish is long, as youthful tannins come forward, but it also remains balanced and feminine, echoing a mix of mineral-encased red berries. It’s a very pretty expression of Brunello."
-Vinous, 93 Points
This is an elegant, age-worthy, conversation-stopping wine... and our price on it is as genuinely freakish as it is likely historic! (We're selling it for less than some places in Italy!) Drink it now with a perfectly grilled bistecca alla Fiorentina... and cellar some more for another decade's worth of pleasure, easy!
(Quantities are limited, so case up while you can!)
2015 Fattoria del Pino
Brunello di Montalcino
(Vinous: 93 points.)
Our price: Only $69 on 1! Buy here!
Only $64 on 6! Buy here!
Only $59 on 12! Buy here!