Brunello di Montalcino and other wines
Brunello becomes Brunello at midnight of new years eve. Let me explain
Old vineyard Casato Prime Donnebetter: the red wine produced with Sangiovese grapes in Montalcino , then vinified, aged in barrel and refined in bottle according to the rules, become Brunello at midnight of January 1st of the 5th year after the harvest.
So the new Brunello is just born. In this case it is an extraordinary harvest: vintage 2007 – five stars, where the grapes reached a level of perfection never seen before.
Let me tell you how the climate was in 2007, and why it brought to the production of such wonderful grapes. That year the winter never arrived. In Tuscany it seemed as though one was in Sicily and it was possible to eat out of doors even in January. The rainfalls arrived in Spring. During the summer regardless of a few days of heat wave , the temperatures were quite normal, with some storms that occasionally reduced the temperature and helped the vine’s vegetative cycle.
Brunello di Montalcino and other wines
Sangiovese cluster
At Casato Prime Donne surely 2007, thanks to the new vineyards that have now reached maturity in the amount produced and the quality They are, however, two extraordinary harvests, one after the other, which is really very rare in Brunello‘s history. Both with a 5 star rating, yet two harvest very different one from the other.
It’s worthwhile examining them so as to understand what they have in common and how the best Sangiovese grapes in Montalcino can come from very different situations, so that there cannot be a precise recipe as there is in the kitchen, but how then can be, on the other hand, some natural circumstances which when they coincided must be understood and made the most of by the grape pickers and wine makers.
Life on a farm
Everybody knows of kennels, but at Fattoria del Colle we have a cat pound.
Fattoria - the black cat
It’s in front of the historic cellar, inside going towards the courtyard. There are some very old large oil pitchers in terracotta and above them are three cat homes, and dishes with their special cat food..
At Fattoria del Colle there are three black cats and one white, she is very ferocious, a real panther who scratches even the dogs who pass by.
This story is about the most beautiful and romantic rooms at Fattoria del Colle, the “Camera del Granduca”. Pietro Leopoldo d’Asburgo Lorena was the greatest Tuscan sovereign.
Fattoria del Colle "Camera del Granduca"
By Donatella
With the end of the Medici family, he became Grand Duke when very young and he moved to Florence. During the next 25 years he transformed Tuscany into an efficient state, that was rich, with no illiteracy, with a health system, where women had the right to vote and where the death penalty was abolished (1786), this was the first state in the world to do so.
Regardless though of his many good points Pietro Leopoldo had one defect. He was a great womanizer. It seems, that his wife Maria Ludovica di Borbone, daughter of the King of Spain, while travelling across Florence in their horse and cart would say to her 16 children <<wave , wave to those children……..they might be your brothers and sisters >>.
Do you remember the wine “Il Drago e le 7 colombe”? With the arrival of Valèrie Lavigne, the all female staff of Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wineries grows. The doves taking flight, symbol of the “Prime Donne” Project, are now 8.
The 8 doves
But who is the dragon?It’s Carlo Gardini. He arrived three years ago and is Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s husband. At the beginning his sectors were finance and the estate restaurant, but since last year Carlo is protagonist of wine projects with the creation of a passito and more recently of a Vin Santo “occhio di pernice” which however will be available for tasting in a few years time.
Here is “UNA” the wine dedicated to the unification of Italy. The two
UNA bottiglie dell'Unità d'Italia
bottles, one of red wine and one of white, contain small amounts of wine obtained from 40 autochthonous grape varieties 40 from our country, two per region. For Tuscany the variety chosen was Sangiovese and the wine used was Brunello di Montalcino
The wines celebrating the Unification of Italy are consequently a summary, or a blend as the winemakers may say, which symbolically unites the Italian vine growing world.
Infernotto: protected and reserved area of the wine cellar destined to the conservation of the most precious bottles
Fattoria del Colle infernotto
The first inhabitant of Fattoria del Colle was hermit called Sant’Egidio di Querciola in the XII century. His refuge was an underground cavity, during later times enlarged and
transformed into a well. Today it is possible to enter the hermitage from the tasting hall in the wine cellar.It is a room dug in the calcareous rocks and reinforced with walls and ceiling in bricks and stones. Up until now it was empty but the necessity to preserve the antique bottles of Brunello in a place that was safe from thefts, dark, with constant temperature and humidity has made it necessary to transform it into an “infernotto”. For a producer of wine this is not an irreverent use, quite the contrary. Here the most precious goods in the cellar, the historic bottles of its production, find the right resting place and even a sort of blessing.
This is the party for Christmas 2011 organized by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Fattoria del Colle Christmas party
for her employees. The winter festivities are the conclusion of a very intense working year. It is the moment for final balances, which, regardless of the crisis, are one whole positive.
The winery has increate its sales by 5,4% with a strong increase in what is exported, this has compensated the reduction of sales in Italy. The country inn has maintained last year’s levels while the restaurant has had a big contraction because fewer wedding banquets have been organized here. Very good for the shop Toscana Lovers in Siena with a double figure increase.
Montalcino Quartiere Ruga
On Sunday December 18th in Montalcino the Quartiere Ruga has inaugurated the renovation of the Adorazione dei Magi painting, financed by the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino and Donatella Cinelli Colombini was there. The painting dating back to the 17th century, from the Sienese School of painting, is particularly loved by the members of the Quartiere Ruga, because their symbol has been taken from the comet portrayed. The comet which lights up our way explains Maddalena Sanfilippo an art historian and member of the Quartiere Ruga.
In Italy December the 8th, day where the immaculate conception of Mary is celebrated is traditionally identified as the day for putting up the Christmas tree, laying out the nativity scene and hanging up the decorations. And traditionally all is removed after the Epiphany,(or on the actual day). Around here the saying goes “L’Epifania, tutte le feste se le porta via” “Epiphany , calls all the holidays away”
