2015 Azienda Celestino Pecci Brunello di Montalcino Tuscany 750 ml

We were gathered around our tasting table, but we might as well have been in the hushed dining room of a MICHELIN three-star restaurant as we listened to Master Sommelier Sur Lucero introduce the 97-point 2015 Azienda Celestino Pecci Brunello di Montalcino. Sur has served $10,000+ bottles at The French Laundry and honed his palate on the greatest wines of Italy, so he doesn’t give outright praise easily. 

“This small producer’s wines rarely make it to the US,” he told us as he deftly poured two ounces of the ruby-crimson Brunello into each glass. “They’re highly sought-after wines in Tuscany, and the 2015 is the first vintage I’ve ever seen in the States.”

On the nose, aromas of warm, ripe black cherry, raspberry, and candied cranberries mingle with new leather, fresh rose petals, and resinous herbs. Beautifully focused and detailed on the palate, it exudes notes of balsamic, licorice, and sweet pipe tobacco before the voluminous midpalate leads to a long finish built on superfine tannins. It’s pure Brunello class from an A-list producer. 

The wine hails from the Pecci’s clay-rich south- and southwest-facing vineyards, which sit nearly 1000 feet above sea level. The impeccable 2015 season gifted the Peccis with Sangiovese Grosso ripened to perfection under the warm Tuscan sun, and after more than three years in 1000- and 3500-liter wooden barrels and another six months in bottle, this exquisite Brunello exemplifies the 2015 vintage’s magnificent quality.

In any vintage, a bottle of Celestino Pecci’s Brunello is a rare treat. This wine sparked rare reverence in our Master Sommelier and brought unalloyed pleasure to our entire Wine Team. We know it will bring that same pleasure to you.