Podere Sassi Sassolini Rosso, young, bright, smooth and a lot of fun

Another of my favorite winemakers, this is a new wine for them called 'Little Sassi' It's bright and delightful, like eating a fresh grape  and feeling the skin pop in your mouth.
 
From Ned at Devenish:
it's got that Ciliegiolo fresh juicy raspberry fruit! But it's a little crunchy too. Very smooth at first but then there's a lovely savory saltiness on the mid palate and then a little bit of a peppery brambly woodsy flavor along with some cooked blueberries on the finish. This is a medium bodied fresh young playful red with a clean finish. There's bit of tannins but they're sneaky and stay in the background.
Podere Sassi was started by Leonardo Sassi.  Leo's family has roots out here in the northern Lazio countryside, but 2 decades ago his parents moved to Rome and started a successful restaurant. Leo grew up in Rome but spent time out in the hills with his grandparents and always felt the pull of this rural quiet part of Italy. In 2017 he made the jump and started replanting an old hill side vineyard, buying a few acres of exiting vines, and experimenting with wine making with the help of Danilo Marcucci. Leo is driven, but also humble and aware of his own limitations (always gently pushing himself however).  Sassolini basically means "little Sassi".  It's a new wine that he made for the first time in 2020. The grapes are 100% Ciliegiolo from Leo's younger vines planted in his highest elevation parcel.  This is partial whole cluster fermentation before aging in stainless.  It's awesome to see Leo evolving what he does.  He started super small and just didn't have enough fruit to make a wine like this before, but now that the vines he planted are starting to produce fruit it gives him the flexibility to make a wine like this: fun to drink, a bit less expensive than his top cuvee's of red wine, but that gives a glimpse of the Sassi magic.