Casato Prime Donne - history and locations

         

In 1592 Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors already owned Casato. They would come here to go hunting and it was here that they brought their wives on their honeymoon. In recent times Casato belonged to Donatella's grandmother, who passed it on to Donatella’s mother; Donatella in turn will pass it on to her daughter Violante. Since 1998 this large stone building has a new name Casato Prime Donne and it is the first winery in Italy with a female staff.

Casato Prime Donne is situated 325 metres above sea level and is surrounded by 16 hectares of vineyard. On the ground floor of the stone farmhouse is the ageing winery with oak, tonneaux and larger barrels. This is where the Brunello ages, at first in smaller and then ever-larger containers until reaching the 40hl barrels. The vinification area is divided into two parts. The traditional portion is under a wooden beamed roof, while the more technological and modern area is housed under an iron roof and is open on four sides. It is called “Tinaia del Vento” and has been created so as to make nature the protagonist of quality products. Here the clean air of the Val d’Orcia is used as a fundamental element for the quality of the future wines. The truncated-cone stainless-steel vats are temperature-controlled and with a plunger, here the pumping overs occur automatically without the use of a pump. The rapport with the surrounding countryside is emphasized by the use of selected native yeasts chosen at Casato Prime Donne during the 2007 harvest by the Oliver Ogar laboratories. Modern techniques for fermentation which however recall those practiced by our grandfathers