2015 La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 750 ml

“Best ever?” That’s the question James Suckling posed in his 96-point review of the 2015 La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino. Our raised eyebrows and pointed glances at each other after one sip of this generously jam-packed wine proved as definitive an answer as any at this year’s Benvenuto Brunello event in San Francisco. A classic La Rasina in its pure generosity and pitch-perfect balance, Suckling described it simply as “a serious and beautiful wine.”

It won’t be easy to find such a classic, structured, and beautifully balanced Brunello from 2015 for under $80. Especially not with a 96-point score like La Rasina’s. Or as Suckling put it, “compared with other Brunellos, La Rasina definitely is one of the best wines for the money.” 

Heady aromas of black cherry, cedar box, and licorice lulled us into a daze as we took them in, muting the crowded room with the illusory sounds of cypress trees and olive groves swaying in the Tuscan breeze as we went in for the first sip. There, deeper cherry and gorgeous black raspberry were set within a palate milieu of tobacco, caramelized mushroom, worked leather, savory tar, and smoked meat. The only thing missing was a juicy bistecca alla Fiorentina to pair with it. 

With another 30 minutes in the glass—or the decanter, since this knockout can’t last that long in anyone’s glass—an array of savory herbs and cigar box spice started to unfurl, lingering on a marathon finish that still wasn’t over as we snapped up all we could. 

One of the few remaining multigenerational, family-run estates in Brunello DOCG’s Montalcino hub, La Rasina was founded in the early 1970s by Santi Mantengoli. Santi’s grandson Marco took over in the legendary 1997 vintage, after which Suckling credits him for having “guided La Rasina into making wonderful wines vintage after vintage.”

Visiting in years past, we’ve always marveled at how small the family operation feels for such a well-established regional name. Just like the wine, you can smell La Rasina before you enter, thanks to the perfumed roses climbing over the old walls of the main house, hinting at the aromatic elixir for which this property is known. Though we hadn’t been back to the estate in years, one whiff of the 2015 in San Francisco took us right back to Tuscany. 

Located on the southeastern side of Montalcino’s rolling hills, La Rasina sits on some of Brunello’s most coveted terroir. Avoiding the scorching heat of Tuscan afternoons, organically grown Sangiovese grapes instead collect the gentle rays of the eastern morning sun which help produce such an elegant aromatic profile. The famous galestro soils, found only in the region’s top hillside vineyards, are composed of porous grey rock that forces the grapes to struggle for hydration, helping give the finished wine its incredible concentration and body. 

And with the gifts of the 2015 vintage, described by Vinous as “easily one of the top eight or ten Brunello vintages of all time,” this La Rasina has concentration in spades. It was a warm year, tempered by July rains and cool August nights, which led to small but healthy grapes with thick skins and better acidity than is typical in hot years, leading to the “magical balance” by which Vinous characterized the vintage’s greatest wines. 

A long-time Wine Access favorite for good reason, any fan of Brunello—or ageable, terroir-driven reds for that matter—should stock up on this sensational value.