Brunello with height, herbs, and old-world nerve.
From a tiny high-altitude Montalcino estate now guided by the Cotarella family, this 2018 Le Macioche is fragrant, savory, and built for the table: dried cherry, wild herbs, polished grip, and a finish that knows exactly where it is going.
Four reasons collectors move on this allocation.
Brunello does not need noise. It needs site, patience, and the kind of savory detail that makes a long dinner feel deserved.
Galestro, height, and a narrow estate footprint.
Le Macioche sits in Montalcino with galestro-rich soils and a high-elevation vineyard profile. That gives this Brunello its lifted herbal edge, mineral snap, and firm Tuscan backbone.
2018 favors fragrance over force.
This is the Brunello lane for buyers who love energy: cranberry, dried cherry, mint, tea leaf, and savory spice rather than sheer weight.
Classic Sangiovese, not a soft-focus red.
The tannins have real grip, but the fruit and acidity keep the wine moving. It is made for roast meat, winter braises, and slow meals.
The next decade is the sweet spot.
Open now with air for its wild-herb charm, or cellar into the early 2040s for leather, dried flowers, tobacco, and a deeper savory register.
The Allocation Opportunity
- Scarcity with substance: Le Macioche is a small estate bottling, not a broad regional blend hiding behind a famous appellation.
- Value with context: $75 sits meaningfully below the $120 winery reference and below accessible current comparable listings around $97–$100.
- Food and cellar logic: The wine has the acidity, tannin, and savory detail to handle ragù, bistecca, porcini, or a quiet ten years downstairs.
The critics see the same thing: structure, age, and savory depth.
The 2018 Le Macioche reads like serious Brunello: herbs, leather, dark fruit, mineral detail, tannin, and a patient finish. It is not trying to be glossy. It is trying to be true.
The value spread is clear without shouting.
Slash Price $75 vs comparable market reference ≈ $97 vs winery reference $120. For a 95-point Brunello with a decade-plus cellar path, the math is simple: the bottle is priced like a smart table wine, but it drinks with estate pedigree.
Market references: Wine-Searcher reference • Famiglia Cotarella winery reference.
Modern Value Spread
Price anchors shown per 750ml bottleSlash Price
Reference
Reference
Dried cherry, wild herbs, and the kind of tannin that asks for food.
Fruit
Dried cherry, cranberry, withered wild plum, fig, and a darker chocolate shadow underneath.
Structure
Bright acidity, firm Sangiovese tannin, and a midweight shape that stays lifted rather than heavy.
Oak & Spice
Oak spice, cigar box, sandalwood, dried rose, juniper, mint, and savory Tuscan underbrush.
Finish
Long, sapid, and mineral-leaning, with leather, herbs, and red fruit echoing cleanly.
Serve
Serve at 60–64°F. Decant 90 minutes now; use Burgundy stems if you want the aromatics to stretch.
Window
Drink now through 2042. The next five years should bring more softness; the next fifteen bring more earth.
Cellar Horizon
A small Montalcino site, translated through Sangiovese Grosso.
From site to glass
Le Macioche is not a sprawling Brunello label. It is a focused Montalcino estate site, with galestro-rich soils and altitude that help preserve aromatics, acidity, and that herbal lift Brunello collectors look for.
In the glass, that shows up as red fruit with grip: dried cherry, cranberry, crushed stone, rose, juniper, and a savory edge that makes the wine feel grown rather than assembled.
Technical Snapshot
- GrapeSangiovese Grosso
- AppellationBrunello di Montalcino DOCG
- SoilGalestro-rich
- Surface3.5 hectares
- Altitude450 meters above sea level
- ABV14%
- ProductionApprox. 12,000–12,500 bottles
- Service16–18°C / 60–64°F
Le Macioche has the charm of a small estate and the hands of a famous family.
The Cotarella name carries serious Italian wine gravity: Renzo and Riccardo Cotarella helped shape modern Italian oenology, and the family’s move into Le Macioche brought that experience into one of the world’s most traditional red-wine villages.
The appeal here is not spectacle. It is the tension between pedigree and restraint. A small Montalcino property, a grape that rewards patience, and a vintage that speaks in herbs, red fruit, and old leather rather than volume.
That is why this bottle belongs in the Brunello lane of the cellar: the lane for holiday roasts, winter ragù, long Sunday lunches, and gifts that say “I chose this carefully.”
Give it protein, herbs, olive oil, and time.
This is Brunello for rustic Tuscan cooking: dishes with browned edges, slow aromatics, rosemary, sage, tomato, mushrooms, and enough richness to meet the tannin without smothering the wine’s red-fruited lift.
Secure the Brunello that knows how to age gracefully.
The 2018 Famiglia Cotarella Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is a serious, savory, high-altitude Sangiovese with a 95-point headline, a small-estate story, and the structure to reward patience.
Open With Purpose
Decant beside wild boar ragù, bistecca, roast lamb, or a mushroom-heavy pasta when you want the wine to lead the table.
Cellar With Confidence
The tannin and acidity are still working. Give bottles time and expect dried rose, tobacco, leather, and deeper Tuscan earth.
Gift Like It Matters
Brunello says occasion without needing explanation. This one adds critic strength, estate character, and value discipline.
