La Gerla 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Pieve 750ml

In January 2026, Kerin O'Keefe — the world's most respected specialist in Italian wine, former Italian Editor of Wine Enthusiast and contributor to Decanter, author of the definitive English-language book on Brunello di Montalcino — published her Top 100 Wines of 2025. The wine at number one was the La Gerla 2021 Brunello di Montalcino La Pieve, awarded a perfect 100 points. Not Biondi-Santi. Not Soldera. Not Casanova di Neri. La Gerla La Pieve — a 1.5-hectare single vineyard in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, planted in 1997, belonging to the estate that Sergio Rossi purchased from the Biondi Santi family in 1974.

The La Pieve has been getting better every year, as O'Keefe herself noted in that review: "The Brunellos from storied estate La Gerla just keep getting better every year." The 2018 — the vintage that preceded the spectacular 2019 — received 96 Points from O'Keefe, confirming La Pieve's standing as one of Montalcino's most precisely crafted and most critically distinguished single-vineyard expressions across every release cycle.

The vineyard that produces this wine is specific to the point of poetry: 1.5 hectares in the warm southeastern sector of Montalcino's Castelnuovo dell'Abate subzone, on Galestro and calcareous limestone soils at 350 metres above sea level, vines planted in 1997 and now approaching their first quarter-century of root development into the specific geological character of this particular hillside. The production is approximately 6,000 to 7,000 bottles. The Profile Wine Group tasting note captures the character of this single vintage with the precision that such a specific wine deserves: "Rich and suave, and then suddenly slender and poised, yet always potent, with masses of red and black berries that penetrate deeply. Full of balanced pleasures such as salty minerals, licorice and tart blackberries that linger incredibly."

Rich and suave, then slender and poised. A wine of contrasts that resolve into something greater than either quality alone.

Origins & Craftsmanship

La Gerla was founded in 1974 when Sergio Rossi — a successful Milanese advertising executive who fell in love with the Montalcino landscape — purchased the Colombaio-Santi property from the Biondi Santi family itself. The estate took the name La Gerla from the large, old-fashioned conical baskets that Tuscan grape harvesters carried on their backs — a name that honors the human labor that Brunello's hillside viticulture has always demanded. Rossi was among the 24 founding members of the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, and his first vintage in 1976 made La Gerla one of the first 35 Brunello bottlers in the appellation's history.

The La Pieve single vineyard is La Gerla's most precious parcel — a 1.5-hectare plot in the Castelnuovo dell'Abate subzone of the southeastern Montalcino hillside, planted in 1997 from selection massale clones of Sangiovese Grosso. Castelnuovo dell'Abate is the warmest of the Montalcino subzones, where the Tyrrhenian Sea's influence and the south-facing slopes create conditions of greater warmth and ripeness than the cooler northeastern sector — producing Brunello of a characteristically generous, full-fruited, and structurally powerful profile that the Galestro and calcareous limestone soils moderate into elegance and mineral precision. The 350-metre altitude provides the diurnal temperature differential that preserves the natural acidity that La Pieve's most consistent critical quality — the salty mineral note that threads through every review — most directly reflects.

Viticulture at La Pieve follows the discipline applied across the entire La Gerla estate: intense pruning to limit production to 50 quintals per hectare, manual harvesting with hand selection of individual grape clusters rather than entire bunches, and sorting on a selection table to ensure that only perfectly mature, undamaged berries reach the fermentation vessels. The wine undergoes temperature-controlled fermentation at 30°C with 15 days of skin maceration before transfer to large Slavonian oak casks — the 50 to 100 hectoliter vessels that La Gerla uses for all Brunello aging, where the large format's gentle oxidative development over 36 months integrates the tannin and fruit character without the direct wood flavor that smaller vessels would impose. Bottling follows after 36 months of wood aging, then an additional year of bottle rest before release. Production of La Pieve is limited — approximately 6,000 to 7,000 bottles per vintage when conditions allow.

Critics Reviews

Kerin O'Keefe (Wine Enthusiast) — 96 Points (2018) Confirmed from Wine Enthusiast's buying guide listing. O'Keefe is the world's leading English-language specialist in Italian wine and the author of the definitive book on Brunello di Montalcino. Her 2021 La Pieve received a perfect 100 Points and the #1 position in her Top 100 Wines of 2025.

Profile Wine Group — 2018 La Pieve: "Rich and suave, and then suddenly slender and poised, yet always potent, with masses of red and black berries that penetrate deeply. Full of balanced pleasures such as salty minerals, licorice and tart blackberries that linger incredibly."

K&L Wine Merchants — 2018 La Gerla Brunello (standard): "Attractively layered with spiced red plum, balsamic, and sweet cedar. Seamless and approachable, it is medium bodied, with a soft mineral texture and super-fine tannins. Fresh red cherry, orange rind, and delicate salty earth intertwine and find fantastic balance throughout."

Kerin O'Keefe on the La Pieve across vintages: "The Brunellos from storied estate La Gerla just keep getting better every year." (2025, reviewing the 2021 La Pieve at 100 points)

Tasting Profile

Nose Deep ruby with garnet edges — the Castelnuovo dell'Abate's generous warmth and the 2018 vintage's ripeness immediately apparent in the color's depth and saturation. The nose opens with the dual character that Profile Wine Group's description most accurately captures: initial richness and suavity, followed by an unexpected slenderness and poise. Red and black berries lead with concentration and depth — Morello cherry, ripe plum, and dark blackberry arriving together in a wave of generosity that speaks directly to the southeastern Montalcino subzone's warmth. A balsamic note adds a slightly resinous, aromatic depth alongside eucalyptus and a whisper of mentholated freshness. Sweet cedar and spice from the large Slavonian oak aging thread through. The salty mineral quality — the Galestro and calcareous limestone soils' most direct aromatic contribution — provides the counterpoint that keeps the richness from becoming simply opulent. Rose petals and dried flowers add the Sangiovese Grosso's characteristic floral grace note.

Palate Rich, suave, and then suddenly potent — the progression that makes La Pieve so genuinely distinctive and so specifically itself among Montalcino single-vineyard expressions. The entry is generous and immediately pleasurable: masses of red and black berries arriving with the depth of penetration that 1.5 hectares of carefully tended 20-year-old vines in warm Castelnuovo dell'Abate calcareous limestone soils produce. Then the slenderness appears: the salty minerals that thread through the center pulling the palate toward precision and tension from the fruit's initial generosity. Licorice and tart blackberries build through the mid-palate alongside the mineral salinity — the combination that Profile Wine Group identified as the wine's most balanced and most lingering pleasure. Spiced red plum and balsamic add warm secondary depth from the 36 months of Slavonian oak aging. Fine tannins frame the whole — present, building, and entirely supportive rather than imposing. The mouthfeel cycles between rich and lean, suave and precise, generous and controlled — the contrasts that make this wine more interesting than any single adjective can describe.

Finish Incredibly long — the Profile Wine Group's most specific and most accurate characterization of the La Pieve 2018's most impressive quality. Salty minerals and tart blackberries lead the close and persist well past the swallow in a combination that is simultaneously refreshing, complex, and deeply satisfying. Licorice adds a dark, slightly bitter depth. The freshness — preserved by the calcareous limestone soils' natural acidity contribution — keeps the finish lively and focused rather than heavy. The 2018 vintage's specific quality is most apparent at the close: the seamless approachability and the soft mineral texture that K&L identified in the standard Brunello is amplified and refined in the La Pieve, producing a finish that is both beautiful and deeply serious.

Quick Overview

Serving & Occasion

Serve at 17–18°C in a large Burgundy-style bowl. Decanting 60–90 minutes is essential — the La Pieve's rich, layered structure opens considerably with air, and the full contrast of its rich suavity and poised slenderness reveals itself progressively over the course of the glass. The 2018's approachability — K&L's "seamless and approachable" characterization — means the wine can be enjoyed now with patience; the salty mineral backbone and long, structured finish confirm genuine aging potential through 2035–2040. Outstanding alongside Bistecca alla Fiorentina, wild boar braised in Brunello, pappardelle with Chianina ragù, aged Pecorino di Pienza, black truffle preparations, and anything where the wine's generosity and mineral precision find their most natural companions.