Farm experiences

Grandma Giuliana’s apples covered with custard and meringue

Delicious, simple ingredients, easy to make, but needs time. “Mele coperte” covered apples with custard and meringue, my grandma’s dessert

Mele coperte is the dessert that my grandma Giuliana Tamanti Colombini used to prepare for family or for friends who more frequently came to our house. I feel that it is an invention of hers with mixed cultural ascendancies. She was born into a Roman family of famous architects, the Busiri Vici’s and of officials of the Pope, the Barluzzi’s. One of these families had lived at the Quirinale palace until the capture of Rome when the new lodger became King Savoia.

mele coperte – ingredients – Fattoria del Colle

In marrying my grandfather Giovanni Colombini, Giuliana went to live in Modena where her father in law was rector of the University. This is where my mother Francesca was born and where the family lived until they returned to Montalcino, where the Colombini’s actually originated form.
Each of these places left a trace on our table. In our house there was a real cult for eating Tortellini and the Zampone, as it was usual to eat Gnocchi alla Romana and Saltimbocca. I would not be surprised if in the dessert that I am telling you about today there is a real mixture of food cultures and I like to think that it is exclusive to my home.

18 August 2020

Full experience Grape Harvest in Tuscany

For the last two weekends in September and the first two of October at Fattoria del Colle a Brunello, Chianti and Orcia experience

Grape Harvest experience – Fattoria del Colle – Tuscany

From Friday evening until Sunday to see how fine red wines from Tuscany are born, touching the vines, the grape clusters, and seeing the various phases of the vinification but mostly tasting must, wines, and Reserves … so as to understand the evolution of Bacchus’s nectar with the help of great experts. Three journalists will tell the history of Tuscan wine and the specificities in the production of Tuscan wines and of Sangiovese. A chance not to be missed for wine lovers, where they can stay in peace in the vast spaces of the countryside and in the healthy ambiance of the BIO (organic) vineyards.

FULL EXPERIENCE GRAPE HARVEST WITH BRUNELLO CHIANTI AND ORCIA

Grape harvest experience – Fattoria del Colle – Tuscany

18-20, 25-27 September, 2-4, 9-11 October with a program that includes visits, wine tastings, direct experiences and an in -sight lesson with a super expert.

The frame for these weekends full of experiences and emotions is Fattoria del Colle, 2 and a half hours from Rome and Bologna, one hour from Florence and Perugia.

18 km from the A1 exit Valdichiana-Bettolle.

Fattoria del Colle is a small rural hamlet from the end of the 16th century. There is a villa, a chapel and the old farmers’ houses that have now become lodgings for guests, furnished with antiques and with modern comfort.

GRAPE HARVEST EXPERIENCE PROGRAM

The 2020 full-experience harvest weekend program includes participation to different phases of the grape picking and the vinification with a tasting of the new must, plus the guided tour of the vineyards with a tasting of the grapes. The tour of the wineries in Montalcino (Casato Prime Donne) and in Chianti-Doc Orcia with a Vertical tasting of Brunello and Orcia, an in-sight lesson regarding Sangiovese and the wines from Tuscany with an experience called “winemaker for a day” where each participant produces their own Supertuscan.

For information and bookings please click on the link cinellicolombini.it or call the nember: +39 0577 662108.

11 August 2020

in Farm experiences, Forum: News and lifestyle

Fruit salad with Grappa di Brunello

Fruit salad or macedoine is tastier with the addition of dry fruit and grappa. With Grappa di Brunello it is just wonderful!

Fruit Salad with Grappa di Brunello

As in everything else it is the quality of the ingredients that makes the difference, if courage and creativity are added too. The fruit salad that everybody calls macedoine is an easy dessert that can conclude with style a meal if well ripe mixed fruit is used, with lots of lemon and some sugar.

FRUIT SALAD WITH GRAPPA DI BRUNELLO

If you wish to obtain something really super, then an addition of pine nuts, raisins, nuts and dried apricots, a generous shot of grappa and some whipped cream or artisan ice cream. It is worthy reflecting on these two last ingredients. To use a fine estate grappa from the Brunello lees from Casato Prime Donne and distilled by Marolo in Piedmont makes all the difference.
If the cream is made with excellent raw products and whipped at the last moment at home, or if the ice cream is Italian gelato….not cream that we used during covid lockdown (at least Silvia found some of that though!) … then you will have a n extraordinary final dessert for your meal.

21 July 2020

CAFFE’ IN FORCHETTA, A MONTALCINO DESSERT

This is a delicious dessert born at the beginning of the 20th century in Montalcino. It is called “caffè in forchetta” (coffee with a fork) but, in truth, it is eaten with a spoon

It is a Liberty-style dessert, an era when cafés became an important place in social life. In Montalcino, like in Venice or Turin, the local public places in the centre were re-qualified and enriched with velvet and mirrors so as to be able to welcome the bourgeois clients. These in Montalcino, the city of Brunello, comprised those who were noble, academics, business men, landowners and even a few artists.

CAFFE’ IN FORCHETTA IN MONTALCINO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20th CENTURY

Caffè in forchetta of Montalcino Tuscany Fattoria del Colle

Montalcino has always, in fact, had a diversified social structure, cultured and open minded. Regardless of this liveliness the lifestyle of the women was controlled and certainly not as casual as in Paris. In particular, women were criticized if they drank coffee, it was considered too audacious. For this reason a cream caramel was invented where to the milk was added to coffee. This way it was possible to serve coffee to the ladies without it seeming so. This dessert was quite a success and was served in all homes, until like everything else it was no longer fashionable. I published a booklet called “66 ricette di cucina montalcinese” where the fine oral Montalcinese gastronomy was transcribed. This brought back into use the caffè in forchetta that is now once again very present in the restaurant menus in the Brunello territory.
Here it is. It is a simple dessert quite apt to sweetly conclude a meal.

8 July 2020

The Casato Prime Donne and Fattoria del Colle wineries reopen

The Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in the Doc Orcia region become a green wine destination

Fattoria del Colle - Italian garden style with lemon trees

Fattoria del Colle – Italian style garden with lemon trees

Wine and tourism out in the open. A formula born by necessity because of social distancing due to Covid-19. Come to live a new wine experience. Discover the vegetative cycle of the vine, the soil, the grape varieties and most of all the panorama. For instance the landscape here becomes a protagonist of outdoor toasts and wine tastings.

CASATO PRIME DONNE WINE TOUR IN THE BRUNELLO VINEYARD

Casato Prime Donne a Montalcino is open also on Saturday afternoons from now on. It proposes a tour with an itinerant tasting of Rosso, Brunello di Montalcino and Brunello Riserva. It is possible to see some of the organic Sangiovese vineyards and also where the wine ages in barrel and vinifies (at least from outside).

There will be explanations regarding the vintages of Brunello in front of the Calendar with the stars. It will be possible to interact with some of the modern art installations. There is the selfie frame, or Punti di Vista and the Modernacolo created for Carla Fendi. The tour lasts about an hour and is very engaging.
Just one request: it is necessary to book beforehand.

Casato Prime Donne – Brunello Calendar

FATTORIA DEL COLLE MANY PROPOSALS FOR STAYS AND DAILY ACTIVITIES

It is important to register before leaving home also for stays at Fattoria del Colle . Here the activities proposed to guests are many and diverse because the farm is like a small hamlet for the 16th century surrounded by vineyards and olive groves with a splendid panorama of the Crete Senesi and the Valdorcia.
Stays in apartments, rooms and villas, typical traditional meals matched with wines, cookery lessons, hiking and vineyard trails, guided tours and wine tastings…all well organized in every detail to offer guests experiences and small discoveries.
For this reason Fattoria del Colle should be considered a wine destination where it is possible to spend a holiday or a day out in the open air with some fine wines.

1 July 2020

We are open, come and have dinner at Fattoria del Colle

Dining is a cultural experience other than being a great pleasure. At Fattoria del Colle it becomes a melody of flavours, images and great wines

Pears cooked in wine – Fattoria del Colle Restaurant

Donatella Cinelli Colombini has collected recipes from housewives in and around Trequanda even before opening the Fattoria del Colle. For the same reason, she has a vegetable garden with lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, Aglione … as well as tarragon, and many types of mint, sage and rosemary …

FINE WINES OF CASATO PRIME DONNE AND FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Obviously the strong point of the Fattoria del Colle restaurant is that the wine comes from the two wineries: Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and the same farm where we make the Chianti Superiore, Supertuscan and Doc Orcia Cenerentola, the latter is becoming a real star in the wine world. The wine list is made up of around 15 preferences including a sparkling wine, a white and a rosé. Those who might think that using wine as a restaurant’s key strength, do not consider that the menu has been constructed to exalt the flavours in the glass and that it is possible to change the wine matched to each dish or something really extraordinary, choose a Brunello vertical tasting selecting from 23 vintages and more than 50 labels between Brunello Riserva, Prime Donne selection and regular Brunello.

Farmhouse-in-Tuscany-Restaurant-Fattoria-del-Colle

If the notes from the glass were not to be sufficient, there are always the explanations from the staff or from the chef Alessandro Sironi who is a sommelier.

MENU’ FULL OF HISTORY, TRADITION AND TASTE

The menu concentrates on daily proposals that offer authentic experiences from the Sienese countryside: 6 small servings that alternate bread soups with pinci, noble meats such as Chianina beef, or Cinta Senese pork with vegetables from the vegetable garden, traditional dishes such as the Mantovana, Panforte and pears cooked in wine together with more modern suggestions such as the Semifreddo di Mantovana. Tuscan recipes and ingredients often from farm to table. The list of dishes is a little more austere than previously, but all the same it is able to charm and express the culture of the territory even more than before.

23 June 2020

6 bottles of 2019 farm extra virgin olive oil 2019

Extra virgin olive oil from the last harvest, in three varieties. Olives picked by hand in the olive groves at Fattoria del Colle and pressed at low temperatures, delivered directly at home

Fattoria del Colle is lucky to be positioned in an area renown for centuries because of the quality of its extra virgin olive oil. It is an authentic “cru” of the Tuscan olive oil. This offer will be delivered to your door ready to be served and to transform every dish into something delicious and healthy.

The estate has only 6 hectars of olive grove from which we make the 3 types of oil that we are proposing: the cultivar Moraiolo, Correggiolo (frantoio) and blend with the Biologico (organic) certification and the DOP Terre di Siena stamp.

OFFER OF 6 BOTTLES OF EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL -EVO 2019

2 bottles 0,75 Cl DOP Terre di Siena BIO 2019
2 bottles 0,50 Cl Extravergine di oliva cultivar Moraiolo
2 bottles 0,50 Cl Extravergine di oliva cultivar Correggiolo (Frantoio)

The offer finishes June 30th, 2020

19 June 2020

Ricotta Montata

A Tuscan dessert that is easy to prepare an extraordinarily delicious: ricotta montata with Vin Santo, the Montalcino recipe

The simplest things are generally the nicest. Whipped ricotta is so easy to prepare that even people like me, who never cook, can do it. It is an exquisite dessert and need little preparation time.

Obviously there are many versions that are much more complicated. I am proposing the Montalcino recipe with Vin Santo in it, to be served with the same amber coloured wine and maybe with a couple of biscuits or cantucci.

10 June 2020

Fattoria del Colle new top wine destination

2 new proposals for wine lovers looking for an unusual itinerant tasting or who want to spend a day among vineyards, wines and activities

Agriturismo Fattoria del Colle Restaurant

Itinerant tastings that resemble adventures out to discover vineyards and wines, aromas and tastes, panoramas and historical locations. Also the proposal for a day at Fattoria del Colle to regenerate in a safe place, in contact with nature an able to tell a story centuries old. An itinerary dedicated to vineyards and to the wines they produce. Another activity that proposes an itinerant tasting with a mixture of history, aromas and flavours. A lunch experience to taste different Tuscan cheeses or cold cuts, and on Saturdays the possibility of an excursion to the Brunello di Montalcino winery Casato Prime Donne.

Tours and lunches are organized upon request and must be booked the previous day calling +39 0577 662108 or via email at info@cinellicolombini.it

Fattoria-del-Colle-Trekking in the vineyards

ITINERANT TASTING IN THE VINEYARDS

3 vineyards, 3 grape varieties and 3 wine tastings (h. 12,00 midday from the farm courtyard)

Itinerant tasting of the wines in the organic vineyards with the same variety of grapes are grown: Traminer for the IGT bianco Sanchimento, Foglia Tonda for the Doc Orcia Cenerentola and Sangiovese for the Brunello that is made in Montalcino at Casato Prime Donne visible at a distance. This experience thanks to an expert guide will be a fun discovery of the characteristic of the three varieties and of the vines they produce (15 Euro per person). Lasts about an hour.

ITINERANT TASTING IN GARDENS, VEGETABLE GARDENS, HISTORICAL LOCATIONS AND VINEYARDS

3 wines among history, vineyards, gardens and vegetable gardens (h. 3,00 pm: from the farm courtyard)

Trekking-in-the-vineyards-Toscana-Fattoria-del-Colle

Breathtaking views, the Italian garden at Fattoria del Colle with its paths, the San Clemente chapel built in 1592 with its stories of heretics and Madonnas, the bedroom that once belonged to the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo sovereign of Tuscany and his lover Isabella, the vegetable garden with its oldest and most curious plants like mandrake that has aphrodisiacal properties, wormwood – the green fairy and the pepper tree … An itinerary of aromas, stories and legends that includes also the tasting of 3 wines from Fattoria del Colle (Chianti Superiore DOCG, Doc Orcia Leone Rosso and IGT Il Drago e le 8 Colombe) and a typical Tuscan snack with freshly picked tomatoes from the garden (13 Euro per person). Lasts about one hour.

1 June 2020

Fattoria del Colle reopens Country Inn and Restaurant

In the part of Tuscany where fine wines come from, where Covid-19 practically has never arrived, Donatella Cinelli Colombini reopens and renews the tourism activities from July 1st

Fattoria-del-colle-roast-suckling-duck-breast-Cenerentola

Fattoria del Colle Restaurant – Roast suckling duck breast with Cenerentola wine

Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda, a municipality where there have been no cases of Covid-19, and Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino, where those infected have been just a handful, thanks to a Sangiovese in a patron saint version, these are the locations where Donatella Cinelli Colombini, from July 1st, expects tourists and wine lovers.
She wants to offer them fun and regenerating holidays, or just a few hours rest, immersed in the beautiful and uncontaminated landscape, tasting wines of extraordinary quality.

COUNTRY INN STAYS AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Holidays in apartments and rooms with private and equipped outdoor area to eat out-of-doors. Weekly stays, but also 2 nights stays with two dinners and wine tastings. To sanitize against Covid-19, medical-surgical products and a hydrogen peroxide system are used.

Fattoria del Colle the evening by the pool

For safety reasons daily cleaning cannot be done in the apartments and rooms, so they must we considered self care/self-catering with just a daily supply of clean linen.

PARKS, SWIMMING POOL AND HIKING

Fattoria del Colle has a total surface of 336 hectares and consequently offers wide spaces to regenerate out in the open air. There are 3 equipped parks where to sunbathe, admire the panorama and enjoy the quiet of the countryside, 1 swimming pool, 3 signposted hiking trails, where one discovers nature, a special trail dedicated to the vine. Loungers, deckchairs and outdoor tables, children’s games are all sanitized and distant to guarantee guests’ safety.

19 May 2020

Put Renaissance at the table with a woven tablecloth

The ToscanaLovers stores, boutiques for the best handicraft, propose a loom woven tablecloth to be delivered directly to your home at a special price

For those inviting friends for dinner, for those who want an elegant table, for those who appreciate Italian craftsmanship. For those who choose only unique and refined things here is a loom woven tablecloth with traditional artistic designs: amphorae and damask.
It will arrive on your doorstep very quickly.

The looming craft in Italy has a long tradition, its golden moment was during the Renaissance, and it continues today in the small craft shops in Tuscany and in Umbria.

loom woven tablecloths – ToscanaLovers

The tablecloth that we are proposing is consequently a very precious object.
It is made with natural fibres – cotton and linen – and has been made following the typical jacquard system, so, it is double-sided, there is a different design on either side. Its measures, 240 x 180 cm, make it perfectly apt for a table for 6, but there are also other sizes and a few other colours.

TOSCANA LOVERS TABLECLOTH OFFER

Tablecloth 240×180 (for 6 people) linen blend (50% cotton and 50% linen) with 6 napkins
design Damask or Amphora

FOR THE MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB
Special price of 165,00 Euro (instead of 195,00) until May 26^th 2020
We offer free shipping in Italy, and offer 10€ discount on shipping abroad

FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT YET MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB
Special price of 175,00 Euro (instead of 195,00) until May 26th 2020
To this price, the shipping costs is to be added. In Italy is 18€, while for shipping abroad, costs varies from Nation to Nation and will be calculated upon receipt of the order

5 May 2020

Knives that are jewels for your table

Meat knives with a horn or olive wood handle made by hand in small series in Scarperia famous since the 16^th century for its “sharp” blades

Boxes of 6 knives hand made in Scarperia with handles in natural corn or Italian olive wood. Shipped directly to your home to render your table even more precious.

MEAT KNIVES FROM SCARPERIA HAVE BEEN ON THE TABLES OF THE POWERFUL SINCE THE 16TH CENTURY

The Scarperia knives are refined and exclusive accessories for the table. …. but they are also small fragments of a noble and old history. The Tuscan elegance is in fact a blend of nobility and simplicity, luxury and sobriety.

Have you ever been to Florence? The palace where the rulers of Tuscany, Medici family lived is in the centre of the city, it is called Palazzo Vecchio and it is full of works of art. In a special cabinet, on show is a modern knife from Scarperia to show the bond between today’s handicraft and the city’s history.

Steak knives with ox horn handles made in Scarperia and chosen by ToscanaLovers

The Medici family was very rich, they all loved art an exclusive, precious things. For this reason Tuscany was full of great artists – such as Michelangelo or Leonardo – and of extraordinary artisans who worked with wood, ceramics…and iron. The best production of swords and knives was in Scarperia, in a town 30km from Florence that became famous like Toledo and Sheffield for their “sharp blades”.

To guarantee the quality of the knives from Scarperia in 1538 a Statute was written. The Scarperia artisans supplied knives to the king, and noble families all over Europe and now many of them are exhibited all over the continent.

OFFER

Set of 6 meat- steak knives with ox horn handle (there are ONLY 5 sets available)

For CLUB members

PRICE 310 Euro (instead of 360) inclusive of the wooden box and shipment in Italy, or, for abroad discount of 10,00 euro on shipment costs.

For NON MEMBERS

PRICE 325 Euro (instead of 360) inclusive of wooden box and free shipping in Italy or for abroad discount of 10,00 euro on shipment costs (the cost of the shipment varies from Nation to nation and will be quoted upon acceptance of the order).

20 April 2020

Detained at home in the Tuscan countryside

Covid-19 has hit the Siena region less than other provinces and seems to have stopped sooner. Stories as a group and personal anecdotes from Alice and Alessia

Alice Grassi tourism Tuscany Fattoria del Colle

The Province of Siena seems to have managed to contain the pandemic better than other areas in Italy. Regardless a strong flux of visitors from the Lombardy region to their second homes, a dance contest in Chiusi and a football team called Pianese from Piancastagnaio, who have all spread Covid-19 to entire municipalities, in southern Tuscany, the numbers regarding positive cases are low, as those who are in hospital and in ICU. What is surprising is the reduced amount of new positive cases since the beginning of April, regardless of the increased amount of swabs.

THE TUSCAN REGION DISTRIBUTES MASKS AND MAKES IT OBLIGATORY TO WEAR THEM

The Regione Toscana (like a county) has sent all citizens two masks (in blue and white boxes with writings in Chinese) and has forbidden us to leave the home without protection. Florence has been hardly hit by this pandemic in a consistent way, but the province of Siena will be one of the first to come out of it in Italy.

Alessia Bianchi tourism Tuscany Fattoria del Colle

In truth the sensation of danger is felt less because of the smaller sizes of the villages and because of the vast green spaces in the spring countryside. There is then the trust in a national health system, the institutions and the voluntary workers that has demonstrated its worth and that has control over the territory. Well done!! to the Regione Toscana, the mayors, the healthcare workers, voluntary workers of Racchetta, Misericordie and Pubblica Assistenza.

TOURISM COLLAPSES BECAUSE OF COVID-19

Next to this positive scene there is the preoccupying state of tourism that is actually falling off a cliff. Nobody can foresee if and when visitors will return. Tuscany receives mostly visitors from abroad, with a large percentage of US guests. Italian tourism is made up mostly of people coming from Lombardy. So, two areas of origin that are worrying even for those who are to welcome visitors. It is also very evident that local clientele is not sufficient for hotels and restaurants to open up again.
For the moment, the most difficult thing in lockdown with just an hour or so a day for smart-working. Here are the experiences of two of the people who welcome guests in the winery and country inn at Fattoria del Colle: Alice and Alessia.

16 April 2020