Farm experiences

Get married at Fattoria del Colle

To get married in the romantic park, in front of a vineyard, in front of a panorama that seems to come out from a medieval painting; at Fattoria del Colle this is all possible. The Trequanda municipality has in fact authorized us to celebrate civil weddings in 4 special locations, and Donatella Cinelli Colombini is ready to perform thanks to the mandate she has received so that she can sign the wedding act in an official manner.

The ceremony is the most important moment and new fittings have been created to make it more intimate and more spectacular. The couples who wish a Tuscan style wedding will find in Fattoria del Colle a traditional and authentic location that will create emotions for both the wedding couple and their guests; a story about noble families and farmers, an informal style mixed with luxury and simplicity, while all around is the countryside from where the great red wines are made and farming landscapes among the most beautiful in the world.

During the past few months gardeners have worked hard in the parks and gardens, while upholsterers and renovators took care of things indoors. All so as to transform the wedding couple’s dream into reality for the best day of their lives.

The Grand Duke’s bedroom, where the wedding couple can spend their honeymoon now has a canopy bed, a 17th century chest, and air conditioning. At the end of the 18^th century this was a refuge for Pietro Leopoldo Grand Duke of Tuscany, together with Isabella, his lover. This room, still today, maintains a romantic and aristocratic character because of its entirely antique furnishings and the ceiling with frescoes regarding all the breeds of Tuscan birds.

In the billiard room right next door, the room has been enriched with book shelves and new upholsteries. There is now an elegant corner where the wedding couple and their guests can meet, in case or rain. Whereas if the weather is good at Fattoria del Colle there are 4 parks and three swimming pools where you can relax in the midst of nature.

Magic at Fattoria del Colle

When my father gave me la Fattoria del Colle and I went there to live there were some welcome signs that were practically magic, as if I had been expected

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Like everywhere else this place has a long story behind it, Fattoria del Colle is full of magic and secrets.  I am still discovering them now, twenty years after my father Fausto Cinelli gave me this estate and asked me to make it flourish again.

When I arrived at Fattoria del Colle I was worried, there was a difficult financial situation and an enormous amount of investment to be done, there were no strong points upon which to lean so as to create a project with some possibility of success. Plus I was alone, my husband and daughter lived in Florence then, and the estate seemed to me to be distant from everything, cold with wild boars practically at the front door at night… basically not only was the situation worrying but I really was not pleased to live there.

But right from the beginning strange things began happening, practically saying<<welcome, we have been waiting for you for a long time>>. During the first winter, which was the most difficult one under a psychological point of view, there were so many signs, which really seemed to me to be an encouragement.   I was going to Trequanda for the presentation by Roberto Barzanti of the guide to the village by Elio Torriti and I discovered that Fattoria del Colle was where Sant’Egidio from Querciola made his hermitage. He was a saint from the XII century that I had never heard of and of whom it had seemed there were no longer any traces but…

White truffle and Tuscan wines for kings

Autumn weekend with the Crete Senesi white truffle, Brunello, Chianti Superiore and Orcia in a 16th century Tuscan farm with vinotherapy

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Fattoria del Colle organizes three weekends in November 3-5 / 10-12 / 17-19 for those who love white truffles, that this year are particularly rare and expensive.

The estate has 5 truffle preserves where the white truffle of the Crete Senesi is found, a very refined variety because of its intense aroma and very harmonious taste. These weekend dedicated to this precious product are full of fun experiences that enrich your knowledge: truffle hunting in the woods with a truffle hunter and his dog, a cookery lesson on truffles, guided tours of the Brunello winery (Casato Prime Donne) and  Orcia-Chianti winery (Fattoria del Colle) with wine  tastings, dinners ……………

Two interesting novelties to enrich the already rich weekends: at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino, next to the winery, Alessia Bernardeschi has created a piece of contemporary art called “Donna che guarda”,

(the woman. This is a frame within which you can take a great selfie with the Brunello vines behind you. It was launched on September 17th and you will be among the first to use it for your beautiful photos, please do send them to us!

At the end everyone will take home a personalized bottle of Brunello. Not a regular bottle of Brunello di Montalcino but, your Brunello , with a packaging different to all others.

During the weekends 11-12 and18-19 November, at 15 km from Fattoria del Colle, in the San Giovanni d’Asso castle (Montalcino municipality) there is a Crete Senesi truffle workshop, where it is possible to buy truffles, there are many food stalls and local handicraft. 

In the life of a wine producer: in Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s handbag

Let’s take a peek in Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s handbag to discover her personality; she is eccentric but also a lover of all things beautiful and exclusive

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

My friend Luca Bianchini, writer and radio presenter and successful journalist, told me he had been given an assignment, from a well known magazine, to write a series of articles describing the contents of Italian and foreign celebrities . What surprised him most was the fragility of some of these famous women, literally distressed in front of the possibility of revealing something that they felt so intimate. Bags are often places where we hide small secrets or quirks. It seems in fact that the most glamorous of characters, starlets, singers, TV personalities- those that the illustrated magazine follow step by step, are in fact most reserved about their intimate things.

We from the world of wine are tougher than singers. Maybe because, in our job, substance must always prevail over appearance. When the opposite happens the invariably the winery gets sold.

For this reason telling you what is in my bag does not embarrass me in any way but in fact amuses me and it is useful to reveal that mixture of exclusivity and simplicity that characterize all my life.

First of all the bag: handmade, leather chosen for me by an artisan that accepts my requests and changes his models. He is called Pianigiani he is from Buonconvento and he has cured me from by dependence from Céline. I was buying handbags of this brand for decades with absolute faithfulness until I discovered that the calfskin that gets scratched is of poor quality: the Céline bags are always marked, those by Pianigiani no, because he chooses the skins one by one, and sometimes especially for me.

Extraordinary harvest and racking weekends

Extraordinary harvest and racking weekends in the land of Brunello with unique, fun experiences that show you how fine wines are born [caption id="attachment_12055" align="alignleft" width="300"] Weekend vendemmia e svinatura Donatella Cinelli  Colombini[/caption] Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria del Colle A different harvest and racking weekend, created to charm you and teach both to the starts and the more expert. The program proposes in fact fun and unusual activities that are also very informative, where everybody, in different ways, learns how great wines are born and the sensitivity necessary to interpret in different ways the grapes from each harvest and from each vineyard.   Donatella Cinelli...

Vote the 2017 winning photo of the Casato Prime Donne award

Fantasy o realistic, evocative or descriptive …. You can be one of those who chooses the 2017 winning photo to represent the Brunello and Orcia territories among the 5 finalist masterpieces

 

Click here and open the voting panel with the 5 finalist images of the  Casato Prime Donne award among which to choose the 2017 winning photo. It will be possible to vote online until September 4^th and you can express only one preference.

Come on, it’s time to vote! It is fun and your opinion is important.

The 5 finalist images renard the territories where the Brunello and Orcia wines are produced, 13 villages: Montalcino, Pienza, Buonconvento, Castiglione d’Orcia, Radicofani, San Quirico d’Orcia and Trequanda, parts of Abbadia San Salvatore, Chianciano Terme, San Casciano dei Bagni, Sarteano and Torrita di Siena.

A territory, this, most of which is part of the Unesco world heritage site famous for its beauty and history. This is a difficult competition because all of the best professional landscape photographers have pointed their lenses towards these soft hills, the cypress trees in San Quirico, the grape growers Etruscan faces, the Vitaleta Chapel, wineries, the Foce gardens …. So that they have become icons of Tuscany, true and beautiful. In other words a post card effect, something like a “déjà vu” can in some way hinder those looking. However everybody wants to try, professionals and amateurs.

Every year the winner is chosen online by a popular jury, who choose among the 5 finalists previously selected by the Casato Prime Donne jury.

The winning images are exhibited permanently in Montalcino, al Casato Prime Donne, in the hall dedicated to Ilda Bartoloni, the Rai journalist who passed away in 2009 to whom we owe the present formula of the Casato Prime Donne Award. Together these images create a collection of great quality and value that tells of the different  and personal views of the countryside where the Brunello and Orcia wines are born

Wine tours: ours beat the rest

Casato Prime Donne and Fattoria del Colle in Tuscany: here are the most captivating wine tours. Last novelty the bottle that every tourist can personalize

Great wines, unique and historical locations, multilingual and enchanting staff …. will be enriched with a small but delightful opportunity: visitors will be able to personalize bottles with a name and image of their own choice. An extraordinary opportunity, something that no other winery offers: visitors will be able to personalize bottles with their names and images however they like. A unique opportunity that allows wine lovers to create their own Brunello di Montalcino or their own Chianti Superiore DOCG to use during an important lunch or as an exclusive gift. After having stuck on the new label the staff will ensure that the bottles can travel by inserting them in special wine skins (to put in your luggage) or shipping them to your home through a courier.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini has two wineries – Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in southern Chianti that produce small series of Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino Chianti Superiore and Doc Orcia. The entire range is on sale in both wineries. The ratings by the most important specialized press are excellent and go between 88 and 97 out of one hundred. So these are boutique wineries, of small dimension but of international fame. To visit them is editing, and increases your knowledge but is also great fun.

At Fattoria del Colle there are three wine tours

30 minutes GUIDED TOUR AND BRIEF TASTING € 6 per person

For Fattoria del Colle the itinerary regards the belvedere parka round the swimming pools, the San Clemente chapel, the historic halls of the 16th century villa, the winery with its barrel ageing area, the Vinsanto loft and the Brunello infernotto. At the end an informal tasting of Chianti Superiore DOCG.

50 minutes ITINERANT TASTINGS 18 per person

4 tastings: IGT Toscana Bianco Sanchimento, Orcia Doc “Leone Rosso”, Orcia Doc “Cenerentola” and Brunello di Montalcino DOCG all produced in Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wineries.

The tastings take place along an itinerary next to the Chianti and Orcia vineyards to return to the 16th century San Clemente chapel and then proceeds inside the Colle Villa to the armorial hall where the second tasting takes place. The visit continues with the historic kitchen, the billiard room and the bedroom that once belonged to the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

In the winery guests enter the barrel area where the Orcia Cenerentola wine is aged and this wine is tasted here. After visiting the Vinsantaia and the Infernotto with old bottles of Brunello the tour concludes with a tasting of Brunello. The second and last tasting are accompanied with diced pecorino and local sausage.

 

120 minutes TOUR, TASTING AND TRADITIONAL LUNCH €34 per person

Guided tour of the historical halls in the sixteenth century villa (kitchen and armorial hall) the San Clemente chapel and the winery with its barrel ageing, the Brunello infernotto and the Vinsanto loft.

In the Osteria at Fattoria del Colle, in the liberty style dining room or in the veranda looking over the vineyards.

An elegant setting finely furnished. The lunch consists in 4 courses accompanied by Chianti Superiore DOCG and Rosso di Montalcino DOC served in crystal wine goblets.  The menu includes zuppa di Trequanda or pappa col pomodoro, maltagliati with duck sauce or pappardelle con sugo toscano prepared with wine, tagliata di bue chianino reared in the nearby pastures with roast potatoes and salad,  ciambellone with apples or whipped ricotta.

At Casato Prime Donne there are 4 wine tours

Bank holiday, April 25th with the Orcia Wine Festival 2017

At Fattoria del Colle three days -from 22nd to 25th April- dedicated to “old waters and new wines” in an intense and long weekend of wellness and fine wines

25^th of April Bank holiday: join the activities of the Orcia Wine Festival in San Quirico d’Orcia (wine tastings, dinners, spa and massages, trekking, music videos….) to those proposed in the Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino and in Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda and you will have a spectacular program, something unrepeatable and full of emotions, suggestions, and with an unbeatable regenerating effect.

To know and get to know the secrets regarding fine wines is fun…come and see!

Fattoria del Colle is a small hamlet surrounding a villa and a chapel from the 16th century. An authentic location where most of the furniture, in the rooms and apartments is antique. Restaurant, wellness area,

parks, winery cookery school and trekking trails are a frame for the experiences dedicated to food , local cuisine (brief lessons and themed dinners), to the tastings organized so as to create sensations, such as the itinerant wine tasting, and the game, Playing winemaker where everyone produced the Supertuscan wine of their dreams.

I Montalcino, in the Casato Prime Donne there will be another surprise: a tour of the winery with a Wine and music itinerant tasting created by Igor Vazzaz the sommelier musician and in the new fermentation hall the showing of the video “The dove’s flight”. The programme of the wine tastings for the bank holiday included also a guided tasting of 5 vintages of Brunello, from the just born vintage 2016 to the great Riserva.

In theme with the title “Old waters and modern wines” the wellness area at Fattoria del Colle proposes a bath in the Jacuzzi with panoramic view, with a glass of wine, vinotherapy in the special juniper tub and massages that make the most of the rejuvenating virtues of grapes.

Easter in agriturismo with family and dogs

Easter in agriturismo with family and dogs

Spring in the heart and in nature, Easter is the first bank holiday to spend enjoying family, food and fine wines

Where better than in Tuscany, in the most beautiful countryside in the world? A land where the harmony of immense panoramas has a beneficial effect and is in fact called  “landscape therapy”, where there are places of great spirituality such as the Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey (12 km) and Assisi that is an hour away.

To these places that sanctify the Easter there is an addition of fun proposals for gluttons connected to the Brunello and Orcia Doc wineries belonging to Donatella Cinelli Colombini, themed dinners and a cookery lesson also apt for kids, guided tours and wellness.

There is time for the sacred and profane in a large and traditional place like Fattoria del Colle. A place that has in authenticity its major attraction. To stay in one of the farmhouses,now for agriturismo,  transformed into rooms, apartments or villas, where part of the furniture is antique, gives the sensation of living in a home that once belonged to our Tuscan grandparents. The freedom felt is due to the large open spaces that are uncontaminated (the vines are organically grown) where you can sit out in the sun, and allow the kids and dogs to run around, is just what is needed to get over the city stress.

Tradition and authenticity at all levels: the housewives teach adults and kids how to make pinci, the typical Sienese handmade pasta. The tour of Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino takes place with an itinerant tasting that combines music and fine wines, history and modern folklore. A mixture that can charm event the most expert of wine lovers and amuse the children. The Brunello tasted has received International prizes but our way of telling you about them is fascinating like a novel.

Felix , a golden retriever looking for friends

Felix is his name but he really is happy, at Fattoria del Colle he welcomes guests. He loves other dogs and children; he is greedy and loves cuddles and playing

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, agriturismo, Fattoria del Colle restaurant

It is wonderful when the Japanese tourists arrive with their uncertain English asking  <<where is Felix?>>. Felix, the golden retriever at Fattoria del Colle is just so famous. All of the visitors photograph him, cuddle him, and send messages. He is a celebrity.

Visitors’ dogs are well accepted at Fattoria del Colle also because Felix adores them. He loves playing and he literally allows them to jump up on him. The only problem is with those on a lead, but as soon as they are set free they begin having fun together.

During the season he disappears for whole days with his new friends and returns so tired he practically is sleeping on his feet. There are then those dogs he likes so much that he cannot be without, Felix sits out of their apartment where the family is staying and bark up until they open the door.

Felix  is a golden retriever born on November 24th 2010 in the Antica Etruria di Asciano kennel where he was named Valerio, name also on his pedigree together with those of his parents, grandparents, and their titles won in Italian and foreign competitions. He arrived at Fattoria del Colle when he was two months old straight after the death of my beloved collie Black. I used to cry while driving and couldn’t sleep at night and I was able to get over the nostalgia for my previous dog only thanks to the arrival of the yellow puppy. When he was small he was soft and fluffy but also smelly, as he had the habit of stinky flatulence, where everyone had to race away.

Massages and wine tastings: novelties for a weekend away

Tuscany, Brunello tastings, Chianti and Orcia. Massages and bathing in the Jacuzzi with panorama, candlelit dinners with historical dishes [caption id="attachment_11923" align="alignleft" width="300"] wellness-massages-and-fine-wines-Fattoria-del-Colle-Toscana[/caption] A new proposal for a weekend dedicated to wellness and fine wines at Fattoria del Colle. Massages and wine tastings: are you looking for a romantic weekend with pleasant regenerating things to do? Here is a proposal created for you: away from traffic, in contact with nature, fine wines and old traditions, with a wellness area for your exclusive use …. You can set off from home in jean and little else because you will always be in relaxing...