Farm experiences

Wine cats

After the winery dogs, now the wine cats, in other words 4 legged friends become a necessary presence in boutique wineries

Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Wine cat

There is a legend about cats in the Vinsanto lofts in the Chianti region. Nobody has ever seen them but everyone talks about these felines that used to spend their whole life in the dark lofts protecting the small vinsanto barrels from the mice. In truth is does rather seem a tale because the places most loved by these hungry mice were the cellars and most of all the places where cold cuts, cheeses and nuts were stored. But for centuries cats have been welcomed in country homes and in cellars where excellent wines are made thanks to the passion of the producers who live there. These wineries are called “boutiques” small establishments where the owner has his home, surrounded by the vineyards, kept like gardens.

20 March 2015

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Donatella Cinelli Colombini is online

Open our new web site, you will be left speechless! It has been made by Readytec -1° Software Partner for TeamSystem in Italy

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Team

9 themes, more than 100 images of Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda. A journey through history but also in our day to day living, and even into the future taking wine lovers and those who adore holidays in the countryside, to share our daily experiences, so that that they practically feel as if they were here.

Readytec

It has been a titanic job: 5 technicians working at the same time to create the graphics, itineraries and mechanism which are strictly computer related such as the “inbound marketing for the SEM”, so a mixture of handicraft, talent and engineering. There was so much information that in the end Readytec was talking about us as if we were a “group” so as if we were a large company instead of two small and old wineries that have miraculously remained intact through the centuries.

18 March 2015

Easter at a winery: drink, and bathe, in Brunello

Easter in the Tuscan countryside, Brunello, Montalcino, vino-therapy, Fattoria del Colle; pic nic Easter Monday

At Fattoria del Colle a super Easter programme with tastings of great wines, traditional dinners, cookery lessons, and vino-therapy and Easter Monday picnics in the vineyards.

An opportunity to rediscover the traditional Easter dishes of the Tuscan countryside and to learn how to make the Ossi di morto di Montalcino biscuits, how to recognize the Sangiovese and Foglia Tonda, aromas, and to photograph the Crete Senesi panorama, regenerating with grape-seed oil and bathing in wine, relaxing in the countryside. And to have a special Easter Monday with a picnic in the vineyards.

Easter Monday pic nic with great wines and great dogs

And in the surrounding areas …. .Fattoria del Colle is in the middle of the Tuscan countryside which is most photographed and admired, there are also the important cities of art: Pienza created by Pope Pio II, San Quirico d’Orcia with Bagno Vignoni, sole medieval spa still preserved, Montalcino, Buonconvento, Montepulciano, Cortona, Asciano with the splendid Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey …

2 nights stay in a double room with breakfast included 110 € per person

For families: 2 nights stay in apartment 110 € per person for adults, 50€ for each child under 12. Breakfast included

28 February 2015

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Sausages and turnip greens

Here is a traditional winter recipe from the Tuscan countryside. Sausages with “pulezze” or rather the tender turnip leaves,greens, these are delicious and easy to prepare

sausages and turnip greens

Regarding turnips my family has a nice anecdote. One of my ancestors from Montalcino had a particularly religious wife who enjoyed turnips, while the husband was not at all religious and didn’t love these vegetables at all. During the winter when the killing of the pig meant that often sausages and ribs were served, the turnips were the habitual side dish, and my ancestor was always irate, so he invented a smart way to stop his wife serving the turnips. He invented a rhyme which he sang loudly every time the poor woman tried to come out of the kitchen with the “pulezze”

<< disse Cristo ai discepoli suoi, non mangiate rapi che è cibo da buoi e San Pietro aggiunse a gran voce – accidenti ai rapi e a chi li coce>> << Christ said to his disciples, don’t eat turnips, they are for the ox, and San Pietro replied in a rather loud voice, damn turnips and those who cook them>>

In truth the matching of pork with turnips is a delicacy and below you find a typical recipe from Trequanda

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE

8 fresh sausages, 500 g of tender turnipgreens (pulezze), garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.

10 February 2015

in Farm experiences, Forum: News and lifestyle, Vines and wines

Donatella Cinelli Colombini presents herself

How can I describe myself? I am imaginative, hard working and lucky. I am also short, a little plump, sensitive to the cold, and attracted by people, places and activities that I do not know

Donatella and Violante at Casato Prime Donne Montalcino

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

First of all I would like to tell you something that very few people know. I am dyslexic, (please check https://dopasolution.com/what-is-dyslexia for a brilliant article by Tina Richards for those with dyslexia who rely on web accessibility).I grew up in a period where no one knew what dyslexia was and when children who per slower in learning were considered retarded. Only when my daughter Violante also showed the same disability I understood the pros and cons in having a different concept of space, but we are also determined and we have an exceptional ability in organization, for this reason many architects are dyslexic .

I studied History of medieval art. You might say << whatever for as you are a wine producer?>> Incredibly it is very useful. At the end of the 1970’s there were no computers , not even in the large libraries, and to do research meant that you had to use every little part of your brain, after then I have never again worked so hard and had such exiting times.

History of art is my great love (after my husband obviously), for years I avoided going to museums, this because I could not stand no longer having the knack in understanding epochs, provenance and creators…just like a musician going deaf. Now I once again enjoy going to museums. I even took the Brunello producers to the Guggenheim in NY, and to the Art Institute in Chicago.

12 January 2015

Valentine’s Day with a couple’s massage and a nice wine bath

Eros and relax at Fattoria del Colle with its tub for couple wine bathing and a couple’s massage with extra virgin olive oil with its sensual virtues

Fattoria-del-Colle-vioteraphy and couple's massage

Not many know this and that is why it is worth trying it now: extra virgin olive oil has aphrodisiacal proprieties and is indicated as an essential emollient to unleash sexuality. The massage with oil, especially if done as a couple prepares the skin for caresses and stimulates the pleasure with its aroma which added to lavender or other natural essences acts as aromatherapy and helps seduction on its way.
Where better to have this experience than at Fattoria del Colle? In the heart of Tuscany, in the midst of olive groves and vineyards, where there is a small 16th century hamlet where one can stay, eat a candle- lit dinner and regenerate in the wellness area. An area where every detail is cared for, exclusive, equipped with sauna, Turkish baths, mini-pool with Jacuzzi, and an area for couples with a wooden tub where to soak in wine and couches for couple massages. The regenerating relaxing and rejuvenating virtues of the water, extra virgin olive oil and wine from Montalcino will make you Valentines’ Day unforgettable

13 November 2014

New year at Fattoria del Colle as a couple or with friends

Relaxation and great wines, massages and guided winery tours, dinners and vinotherapy, cookery lessons to lean the local cuisine, this is what will be waiting for you at fattoria del Colle

New Year 2012 Fattoria del Colle sala liberty

Fattoria del Colle is in a corner of Tuscanystill miraculously intact, it is practically a small hamlet surrounding a chapel and a villa from the 16th century. There are rooms with bathroom and apartments (from to 2 to 14 guests) where the antique furniture adds a touch of intimacy which reminds one of our grandparents homes. A place apt for relaxation and where one can enjoy the splendid panoramas.
The main protagonist is the wine, with the vineyards around the estate and the cellar under the villa. To the Chianti and Orcia wines produced at Fattoria del Colle must be added the Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino coming from Casato Prime Donne belonging to the same owner. Great wines to which dinners and tours will be dedicated as well as the couples bathing time in the tub for vinotherapy and the massages with products made from grapes and wine in the newest part of our wellness centre. A harmonious world of good things to be discovered in a fun and stimulating way through many brief experiences and especially thanks to the guided and itinerant tastings.
For the New Year period enjoy friendship, nature and some gluttony!

3 romantic days as a couple € 248 per person + New Years Eve dinner 90€

Vinotherapy at Fattoria del Colle countryinn

2 nights in double room with bathroom and breakfast with home baked cakes, local cold cuts and cheeses

Wellness – vinotherapy and couple massages

1 dinner with wine tasting with 4 courses and 3 wines
Guided tour of the Brunello winery and brief tasting
Itinerant tasting and tour of the historic halls at Fattoria del Colle
Cookery lesson regarding the Sienese Christmas cakes

3 days on the estate for the New year with family, friends and four-legged friends € 176 a persona + New Years Eve dinner 90€
2 nights in an apartment (2 bedrooms 1 bathroom – 3 bedrooms -2 bathrooms) self catering
1 dinner in the restaurant at Fattoria del Colle with 4 courses and 3 wines
Two hour wellness experience with Turkish bath, sauna, sensorial shower, and mini Jacuzzi with chromotherapy
Guided tour of the Brunello winery and a brief tasting
Itinerant tasting and tour of the historic halls of Fattoria del Colle
Cookery lesson regarding the Sienese Christmas cakes

6 November 2014

On your skin the long lasting youthfulness of the Montalcino wines

At Fattoria del Colle the room for the couple massages with grape powder, the fluid and serum from wine, next to the cave for lovers Vinotherapy

wine and wellness at fattoria_del_Colle

The Brunello, wine made with only Sangiovese, that challenges time and after years and years is still alive, refined and intriguing maybe contains the magical virtues that give skin the same youthfulness?
It is worth trying.
For this reason Donatella Cinelli Colombini has acquired from her winery Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino, the substances to produce grape powder, saline wine scrub, wine serum and wine massage fluid …. All that gives wellness and youthfulness to the skin.
These products contain the virtues of prestigious wines and will be used in a small massage room with 300 years of history: stone walls, a medieval stairway has been transformed into shelves, the 18th century flooring is rustic but original. Everything has been studied in the minimum detail so as to offer the guests at Fattoria del Colle a regenerating experience in every way, starting from the wellness area with the Turkish baths, sauna, sensorial shower and Jacuzzi, or in the small cave with its wooden tub that seats two where one soaks in wine, to then continue with a couples massage where the products used are made from the wines from Montalcino. A unique experience to which we can add a tasting of wonderful Brunello.

24 October 2014

The most beautiful farm wedding ever

Fattoria del Colle is a romantic antique location where every couple can have the wedding of their dreams with three small romantic wedding rites

Wedding lunch at Fattoria del Colle

Fattoria del Colle is several hundred years old and for this reason it can offer a wedding couple something unique and unforgettable such as the wedding night in the bedroom that once belonged to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. At the end of the Eighteenth century the farm was a secret hideaway for the Gran Duke of Tuscany Pietro Leopoldo d’Asburgo and his lover Isabella. The bedroom built for them has a decorated ceiling and antique furnishings.
For an unforgettable honeymoon two hours in the exclusive wellness centre ,wine therapy, couple massages and a Jacuzzi at sunset with a well wishing toast in candle light. Warm water, effusions in an area where every detail is carefully planned. Before leaving there is another rite: the love padlock to be sealed in the Fantabosco at Fattoria del Colle so that it will remain for ever as a souvenir of the wedding couple.

Three details which distinguish the weddings organized at Fattoria del Colle and make them particularly romantic and sensational.

Fattoria del Colle wedding

Fattoria del Colle is a small hamlet with a chapel, a villa, parks, and all surrounded by vineyards, olive groves and an extraordinarily beautiful panorama. A large open space where every wedding couple can organize their “custom fitted” wedding completely different from all others. A great outdoor ceremony and party, aperitif around the swimming pools, wedding banquet and cutting of the cake, open bar and a DJ for dancing under the trees which shine with small lights until late….The intimate celebration inside the San Clemente chapel and a banquet for few. The wine wedding in the cellar and the gourmand banquet with haut cuisine dishes and Brunello from great vintages.

25 September 2014

4 cookery courses in the Brunello and Chianti vineyards

Donatella Cinelli Colombini proposes tours in the winery with cookery courses and stays on the from a with high level cookery lessons with Helle Poulsen Tesio

cookery course at Fattoria del Colle

At the end of the courses we hold a brief ceremony and the awarding of a certificate to take home, practically a passport to guarantee your Tuscan spirit Brief experiences in the Montalcino and Chianti wineries together with some real courses in the school at Fattoria del Colle, but always something really authentic and regenerating. Historic places, breathtaking landscape, great wines tasted after having seen the vineyards and the wineries, food culture learned methodically from excellent teachers and through a direct experience in preparing the food.
A full-immersion experience of Tuscan civilisation, and full of small surprises. Here are the 4 proposals.
Antipasti Toscani and guided tour of Casato Prime Donne winery with a tasting of Brunello a light lunch to finish with. A day to spend in contact with the Montalcino countryside suggestions: landscape, great wines and traditional flavours framed by an area that has four hundred years of history and a worldwide reputation for high quality wines.
At Fattoria del Colle the daily visit with cookery school has an aristocratic style: guided tour of the 16th century villa including the bedroom created for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, experience with Chianti and Orcia Doc wines in the winery and cookery lesson regarding fresh pasta- the traditional local dish “pinci”- and some famous Sienese biscuits among which the Ricciarelli.

19 September 2014

Wine and beauty at Fattoria del Colle

From October at Fattoria del Colle the bathtub for couple vinotherapy increases our wellness offer. Massages wine tastings and lots more so as to regenerate body and mind with Brunello and Chianti. [caption id="attachment_9610" align="alignleft" width="300" caption=" Fattoria del Colle Vinotherapy"][/caption] It all begins with the internationally famous wines by Donatella Cinelli Colombini: Brunello from Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and the Chianti Superiore and DOC Orcia wines from Fattoria del Colle. It is exactly from these wines that our beauty and wellness offer begins, to which we add tours of the wineries, wine tastings, lunches, and stays among the vines for singles but...

13 September 2014

The Brunello sky with Sandra Savaglio’s stars

The Casato Prime Donne award 2014 is full of stars: Sandra Savaglio, Daniele Cernilli, Ian D’Agata, Anna Di Martino and Andrea Rontini

Sandra-Savaglio-Cenerentola

September 14th in Montalcino Casato Prime Donne award in a star filled edition: the stars belonging to the astrophysicist Sandra Savaglio, the moon photographed by Andrea Rontini and the three stars from wine journalism Anna Di Martino, Daniele Cernilli, Ian D’Agata and then “Vita” the grape-picker who is looking at the sun by Piero Sbarluzzi.
This award for the past sixteen years has transformed Montalcino into a stage for great women, those who change the feminine profile, it proposes this year a positive example for the world of research: Sandra Savaglio the astrophysicist who has decided to return to Italy to the Università della Calabria in Cosenza after 23 years of working abroad with the best foreign telescopes and after having become the icon of the participants of the brain drain. In fact in 2004 the weekly “Time” magazine put her on the front page with the title “How Europe lost its science stars”.

12 September 2014

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Do you trust TripAdvisor?

Federalberghi attacks TripAdvisor, pointing out the reviews for 2013 and 2014 for a hotel shut in 2007 and not only

Festa-alla-fattoria-del-Colle

Are reviews on web portals true? This doubt has been around for several years and has recently been confirmed by an American research centre called Gartner, where they have discovered that 10-14 % of opinions published by TripAdvisor are false. These circumstances have convinced the Antitrust to open a case – after Expedia and Booking – also for TripAdvisor, with the hypothesis that they don’t do enough to avoid inaccurate reviews.

Some of the positive reviews come from the managers of hotels and restaurants who want to climb higher in the ratings, on the other side, regarding criticism, there are vindictive actions from clients to whom certain complaints had been made, breakages, noise, hidden consumptions…. It goes without saying that the great influence of TripAdvisor on the choices for holidays pushes some towards an incorrect use, and so the managers of the portal must check better.

5 September 2014