2010 Le Macioche Brunello di Montalcino

Rare 2010 Brunello Library Allocation

Robert Parker had the first and last word on the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino class, declaring it the “top vintage of the new millennium” — in fact it is his highest scoring Brunello vintage ever! For a perfect example of this exceptional vintage, look no further than the 2010 Le Macioche, Brunello di Montalcino. James Suckling, Tuscany’s most influential critic, loved its “full body and chewy yet polished tannins,” and gushed over its “wonderful depth and character” in his passionate 94-point review. Predictably, prices have soared and bargains vanished thanks to the appellation’s rampant inflation — save for brilliant exceptions like today. 

If one was ever to write a vintage script for Brunello di Montalcino, 2010 would be difficult to improve upon. Spring was wet and pretty cold, delaying flowering and slowing the vegetative cycle. Summer then turned cool, absent the heat spikes that blistered clusters in the summer of 2009. From June to late August, little rain fell. Then, as if on cue, perfectly timed showers in the last week of August refreshed the vines, erasing any vestige of hydric stress. September was again warm and dry, but with hot days and cool nights, a dramatic diurnal temperature shift that much explains both the intense concentration of the vintage and the ripe, rich tannins.

Le Macioche, named after the roots of the 200 year old Cyprus trees that surround the estate, is as classic as a Brunello estate can get. Matilde Zecca and Achille Mazzocchi own the tiny 1.5-acre property and are devoted in producing some of the most traditional wines of Montalcino. With only a 1,500 case production, there’s a strict attention to detail and almost obsessive zeal to make the finest wines from their four blue chip vineyards: Pianello, Pozzo, Ginestra and Orto. All rooted on the the finest Galestro soils (schist limestone mixed with calcareous clay) which are known to grow the best grapes in Brunello. The wines are fermented in wooden vats and the macerations are as long as 30 days. The 2010 Brunello is finished in Slovenian vats for 3 years before release.

• ABV 14.50%
• 1 hour
• Now – 2040
• % Sangiovese
• Serving temperature – 60°