Forum: News and lifestyle

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

The most expensive Italian Wines

Barolo Monfortino, Amarone Quintarelli, Barbaresco Roagna, Brunello Case Basse, here is the list of the most expensive Italian wines from 1287$, downwards

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There are a fine number of rich consumers who buy wine just because it is very expensive. The price is a simple message, clear but with many symbolic components such as exclusivity, prestige, luxury … perhaps intrinsic quality.

THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITALIAN BOTTLES DETECTED BY WINE SEARCHER

Sometimes it is enough to determine the choice of bottle, especially when they are to be gifted.
Italian wine offers a huge range of prices, types and quality levels. The winning element is the relationship between the intrinsic quality and the sales tag, which is better than bottles from the rest of the world. Italy knows how to create millions of small wine masterpieces, within everyone’s reach and in recent years has been able to increase the international reputation of denominations and individual brands arousing the interest of collectors and investors: Brunello, Barolo, Amarone, Sassicaia, and Masseto …
From this new interest of the richest segment of the market towards Italy comes the WineSearcher ranking regarding the most expensive wines present in the huge portal that brings together the price lists of all the major retailers in the world. The list is published every year and shows us a rather stable situation highlighting how collectors are fond of some brands and continue to buy them.

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TOP 5 – THE MOST EXPENSIVE ITALIAN BOTTLES IN INTERNATIONAL WINE STORES

The first names on the list are:

Giacomo Conterno Monfortino, Barolo Riserva 1.287$
Giuseppe Quintarelli Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Selezione 1.265$
Roagna Crichet Paje, Barbaresco 918$
Case Basse di Gianfranco Soldera Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 911$
Masseto Toscana IGT 910$
Then there are the wines from two wineries that you do not expect, perhaps because they are small, alternative, developed as great challenges: Barolo Cappellano Otin Fiorin Pie Franco-Michet, (740$) and Miani Refosco Colli Orientali del Friuli (709$).

29 September 2021

Crazy climate in the vineyards

2021 will be remembered by winemakers for frosts, floods, fires and Covid. A series of disasters and the obvious need to commit to defending the earth

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The crazy climate is there for all to see: heat peaks even in Canada, immense fires and floods, frosts that run through Europe like tsunamis. If we fail to reduce the greenhouse effect and rebalance the climate, the earth will become a desert.

2021 VINTAGE WITH A CRAZY CLIMATE HITS ESPECIALLY THE FRENCH VINEYARDS

In the vineyards a first calculation of the damage is made.

The grapes are not yet all in the cellars and therefore anything can still happen but apparently the European wine region most affected by the meteorological excesses of this crazy 2021 is France.

The frost of 7-8 April also did damage to us in Italy, but in France it seems to have been of an impressive violence and, as in 2017, it hit most of the prestigious areas from Bordeaux to Burgundy, from the Rhone Valley to Champagne.

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FROSTS, FLOODS, HEAT AND MOULD: A VARIETY OF PROBLEMS IN FRENCH VINEYARDS

But there were also other problems because the heavy summer rains caused devastating floods and the high temperatures favoured the spread of mould forcing winemakers to fight every day to defend the grapes. The data of the Parisian Ministry look like a war bulletin: in Champagne half of the bunches have symptoms of late blight, in Alsace there have been attacks of both late blight and powdery mildew.

The “Service de la Statistique et de la Prospective” says that in Beaujolais, the Loire Valley, Charentes and the South-West there have been developments of “powdery mildew and sometimes black rot or botrytis depending on the Region”.

Provence, Languedoc and Roussillon, as in central-southern Italy, the vineyards have suffered from drought so the size of the bunches and berries is below average.

12 August 2021

90/100 for Rosso di Montalcino and 92/100 for Leone Rosso

Two excellent scores reward the Rosso di Montalcino 2018 by the Wine Spectator and the Leone Rosso Doc Orcia by James Suckling

Not only Brunello gets great ratings from the international wine press, but also the younger reds produced by Donatella Cinelli Colombini.

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The manual care, the organic certification, the maniacal selection as keys to success

Her vineyards at Casato Prime Donne and at Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda are now adult and, also thanks also to organic cultivation, they are sending to the cellar grapes of extraordinary quality: healthy, well balanced in maturation and with berries of very small caliber.
The production of grapes is scarce, in the 30 hectares of the two wineries. The largely manual cultivation and the entirely manual harvest allows to divide the grapes according to quality and maturation. In the cellar, human intervention are very limited and mainly concerns the autumn and spring racking, the wine matures the large barrels and 5-7 Hl smaller barrels at a temperature of 18 ° C.

10 wines over 90/100 with peaks of 97/100 for Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Rosso-di-Montalcino-ratings-90/100-from-Wine-Spectator

All cared for and manually done in the manner of our grandparents.

The result is amazing: 10 wines with scores of 90/100 from the international specialized press and peaks of 97/100.

A success that excites because it concerns the whole range, from Brunello to be cellared to young reds. This is a sign of great respect for customers and of a small winery with an increasingly great brand.

2 August 2021

Wines to be gifted

How men and women choose the gift bottle. Some useful advice depending on the recipient: environmentalist, glamorous, expert, experimentalist

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Let’s start with gender: there is a difference between women and men in their way of choosing a bottle to give away.

WINE TO BE GIFTED CHOSEN BY A WOMAN

The woman thinks << will he like it?>> and lets herself be advised by the store clerk , paying attention to the taste of the recipient and the type of situation that a given wine suggests in relation to the lifestyle of those who will receive the bottle. A woman tends to be more “sparing” than the man and therefore the value of the gift will almost certainly be lower.

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WINE TO BE GIFTED CHOSEN BY A MAN

A man, on the other hand, looks at the price <<does it cost enough for my boss?>> is his first thought. Then he focuses on naming, branding and scores in the guides. A man listens less to the sales people and looks more at the online ratings. He cares less about the packaging than the female customer but still needs the gift to present itself well.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PACKAGING OF A WINE TO BE GIFTED

For this wine single cases, bags, wooden boxes, gift boxes …. They are indispensable in every spot where wines are sold: from the cellar, to the wine shop, to the supermarket with a department with luxury products.
Go to Harrods in London and you will see how luxury bottles are packaged!
It must be said, however, that the great wines travel in the traditional 6-bottle wooden crates with a nailed lid. They are not beautiful but, after all, even the Rolls Royce does not have an incredible design but it is one of the greatest symbols of ancient wealth!

22 July 2021

Calici di stelle at Fattoria del Colle

Make a wish on the magical Cenerentola terrace on August 5th. For Calici di Stelle at Fattoria del Colle great wines, typical dishes and live music

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The appointment with the shooting stars, the great wines and the live music by Andrea Pinsuti is set for August 5th at 7 pm at the Fattoria del Colle.

AUGUST 5 WITH A VISIT FULL OF SURPRISES, TYPICAL DISHES, GREAT WINES AND LIVE MUSIC

Welcoming with a glass of wine and then a guided tour full of small exciting surprises: the vegetable garden with Tuscan wild herbs to smell and taste preparing to then savour them again for dinner. Then the visit to the cellar with the Cenerentola mural painted by Silvia Argilli, which tells of the marriage between Sangiovese and Foglia Tonda.

Calici di stelle Fattoria del Colle

There is the new room that teaches you to listen to the vineyards, and the signature on the barrel of desires on the new terrace with the spectacular corten railing created by Elisa Boldi inspired by the winter oak woods in Valdorcia.

FATTORIA DEL COLLE MAGIC FOR CALICI DI STELLE 2021

At 8.00 pm the real party begins with a buffet of Tuscan specialties prepared by chef Doriana Marchi: Panzanella with ancient Tuscan wild herbs, pasta with sugo bugiardo, mixed meat stew with potatoes cooked under the ashes, caffè in forchetta and whipped ricotta. All accompanied by a glass of Leone Rosso Orcia Doc or Sanchimento Supertuscan Bianco IGT 2020. For wine lovers the range of wines will expand to Brunello, Supertuscan, Cenerentola Doc Orcia and other award-winning wines in Italy and abroad with very high ratings.

14 July 2021

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

WINE TOURISM BY MOTORBIKE

Motorbikes, Vespas and bicycles …. Travelling through the wine regions on two wheels has become a way to breathe, feel free and immerge in nature

The Giro d’Italia has crossed the Doc Orcia and Brunello territories using dirt track in the middle of the vineyards and creating images and emotions that have made their way into the hearts of bicycle enthusiasts from all over the world. Shortly after, still in Montalcino, the Eroica called upon the Italian and foreign cyclists most attracted by memorable feats and the magic repeated itself. The harmony of the most beautiful agricultural landscape on the planet, which since 2004 has been protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, transforms outdoor cycling into a regenerating and rewarding experience.

The effect of this countryside, cared for millennia by the hand of man, is a sense of well-being of body and mind that psychologists call “landscape therapy”. It calms, and invigorates with a feeling similar to that described by Giacomo Leopardi in his Infinito: << mirando, interminati/ spazi di là da quella, e sovrumani/ silenzi, e profondissima quiete ….. tra questa/ immensità s’annega il pensier mio:/e il naufragar m’è dolce in questo mare>>
<< aiming, endless / spaces beyond that, and superhuman / silences, and very deep stillness ….. between this / immensity drowns my thought:/ and to be shipwrecked in this sea is sweet to me>>.

WINE TOURISM BY BIKE, MOTORBIKE AND VESPA

Of course, not everyone loves cycling, there are those who prefer walking, those who run along dirt paths, or motorcyclists and Vespa tour lovers, but everyone is looking for a more direct contact with nature and the territory outside the car with its comfortable air conditioning and isolation, even from sound, from the surrounding environment.
For them the Valdorcia and the Crete Senesi are an ideal destination that combines landscape beauty, culture and food and wine pleasures.

17 June 2021

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Zuppa di pane di Dante, a fourteenth-century flavour

In the occasion of the seven hundred years since Dante’s death, the restaurant at Fattoria del Colle will serve this Tuscan fourteenth-century bread and vegetable soup. You will taste the Middle Ages

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Beans, autochthonous Tuscan plants that the expert botanist Caterina Cardia has planted in the vegetable garden at Fattoria del Colle, as well as onions form Certaldo, extra virgin olive oil form our olive groves and home baked bread by our chef Doriana Marchi with sourdough…. All to create a soup similar to what Dante would have eaten in 1300. That year the supreme poet went to Rome along the Via Francigena which, in the southern section of Siena, crosses the Valdorcia. Wanderers stopped to sleep in the Spedali along the way. They prayed and consumed very simple dinners based on local dishes.

A SOUP THAT TEACHES MEDIEVAL HISTORY

Bread soups with beans and vegetables were typical of the countryside and Dante certainly ate them very often. In the Trequanda area, about 20 km from the via Francigena, bread soups were enriched with a few pieces of pork as the housewives still do today.

However Dante’s bread soup at Fattoria del Colle is certainly better than the one that fed the supreme poet on the long journey to Rome but the ingredients are almost the same. For this reason we can consider savouring this soup a cultural experience even more than a gastronomic one: a direct knowledge of the Tuscan Middle Ages.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE ZUPPA DI PANE DI DANTE

Half a kilo of black-eyed beans, a Certaldo onion, a large slice of prosciutto and one slice of salted Tuscan rigatino, bread made with sourdough, half a glass of extra virgin olive oil, kale, chard, stork, other Tuscan wild herbs, parsley, salt and black pepper.

20 May 2021

TRADITION ATTRACTS VISITORS AND CUSTOMERS MORE THAN INNOVATION

Which wineries attract wine tourists the most? Do they like more traditional food or that of technologically advanced companies?

Farmhouse food beats technologically advanced food

Many will answer <<famous wineries>> and it is true. Wine super brands are strong magnets for wine lovers. But among the various types of wineries it is not the masterpieces of the archistars or the giant and innovative creations that enter the hearts of visitors but the boutique cellars where everything speaks of the producer’s passion in grasping the magic of nature transforming it into unique nectar different from any other.

FARMHOUSE FOOD BEATS TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED FOOD

Tradition and manual care are the most appreciated things. If you ask the wine tour guides they will tell you that if visitors see the producer come out of the vineyard dirty with soil to welcome them … that’s it, customers will fall in love with him.

tradition and manual care win on technology in front of turists’ eyes. Violante Cinelli Colombini in the Brunello vineyard.

For this reason it is always better to begin the guided tour of the winery from the barrel ageing area rather than from the areas where steel and technology are the protagonists, such as the fermentation room or the packaging area.

In fact, already in her second Report on Food and Wine Tourism Roberta Garibaldi noted that the charm exercised by ancient traditions was an element capable of standing out above others: in her survey, the greatest increases in interest were recorded in historic restaurants and cafes, the tasting of typical dishes in their area of origin.
All trends that have been amplified by the epidemic, the lockdown and forced quarantine in the city. The Nomisma-UniCredit Tourism Observatory, in partnership between Enit for the “Made4Italy” project, has highlighted the growing importance of the “Food experience” during a trip and how it is increasingly linked to the territory, culture and local traditions. For this reason, 28% of the hospitality facilities are preparing food and wine tours on the territory to allow tourists to enter typical wineries and food workshops while 24% will offer menus based on local products and raw materials “farm to table”.

AGRICOLTURE AND WINE BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Agriculture and wine in Europe face great challenges: green-deal, next generation, Farm to Fork, Biodiversity … innovation is an obligatory path but they must remain faithful to themselves and to their roots if they do not want to lose charm and customers.
The Nomisma-Agrifood Monitor survey in collaboration with Crif shows us how 45% of Italians perceive the agri-food products of “traditional” companies as superior to those of technologically advanced companies. There is even an 18% willing to pay more in order to have genuine farm food. But at the same time a majority share of consumers (54%) calls for agriculture to take a step forward in the name of sustainability and therefore of innovation.

22 April 2021

DOPOBARBA DELLA TITA FROM FARMACIA SALVIONI

Two stories from Montalcino, one about the Farmacia Salvioni that starts in 1499 and one about La Tita that tells of post war times, first in UK and then in the Brunello gardens, and a dedicated aftershave, il dopobarba della Tita

Roberto and Fabio Salvioni in their pharmacy in Montalcino

What binds theses two stories that tell of the true spirit of the Brunello town, is the Dopobarba della Tita (Tita’s aftershave) that the Farmacia Salvioni has created among its cosmetic production range, as it has been done for centuries in the old dispensaries, to dedicate it to their most faithful client.

It seems like something normal but instead the story contains an old and noble tale.

THE FARMACIA SALVIONI AND ITS HISTORY SINCE 1499

The Farmacia Salvioni is in the old market square in Montalcino next to the Loggia, where vases, copper objects, vegetables, chicken and grains were sold.

Farmacia Salvioni in Montalcino: Dopobarba della Tita (Tita’s aftershave)

In 1499 in those 4 rooms used still today, Paolo Dei and Giacomo Marzuoli <<ilcinenses aromatarios in civitate ilcinea>>, were apothecaries, in other words pharmacists.

At the beginning of the 17th century the dispensary in the square changes hands it goes from the Tinelli family to the Angelini family and is active in the production of therapeutic preparations and of spices to cook with: pepper, almonds, isinglass … but also cakes such as pan pepato, copate and biricoccoli.

At the beginning of the 18th century the pharmacy changes hands several times until it is donated to the Ospedale di S. Maria della Croce who entrusts it to the young pharmacist Clemente Santi who later became the owner. The beautiful bronze mortar dated 1751 and with the coat of arms of S. Maria della Croce, still today proudly on show comes from that period.

In 1814 in the pharmacy we find his grandson, he too called Clemente Santi, with a degree in pharmacy from the University of Pisa where Giorgio Santi teaches natural history and has a fantastic reputation. Clemente was intellectual, very dynamic and with historic-artistic interests as well as agricultural ones, corresponds with the Accademia dei Georgofili, collaborates with the Giornale Agrario Toscano and can be considered one of the “founders” of the Brunello wine and of the Biondi Santi family.

17 March 2021

Sanchimento IGT Toscana Bianco 2020

The IGT Toscana Bianco Sanchimento is a small masterpiece of creativity and respect for nature. A white Supertuscan in meaning exclusive, innovative BIO (organic) and slightly orange style

Sanchimento IGT Toscana 2020 – supertuscan from Fattoria del Colle

This Sanchimento is obtained with the first grapes picked by the “masked pickers” which means those wearing the anti-Covid masks!!

Everybody will remember the 2020 grape harvest at Fattoria del Colle for the difficulty in following the safety rules regardless of the heat, fatigue and not being able to breathe properly. But nobody was infected let’s hope it will be the only grape harvest under the Covid claws.

SANCHIMENTO A BIO SUPERTUSCAN

The Traminer grapes were handpicked; the clusters were cooled in an old IVECO refrigerated truck. It is an antique but we keep it to use just for the grape harvest.

After a first experimentation in 2019, the cellar master Barbara Magnani with the two junior wine makers Sabrina and Giada launched themselves into a very interesting chemistry between traditional vinification and orange wine.

Sanchimento IGT Toscana 2020 – Supertuscan – Fattoria del Colle

Part of the grapes was in fact vinified with the skins and with autochthonous yeasts. The blend with the Sanchimento vinified traditionally took place before bottling. The result is a wine of great character and finesse, less aromatic than before but more complex on the nose. More agile, full and structured on the palate. A wine that is not ordinary that demonstrates courage in experimentation and interprets the natural characteristics of the Traminer grapes grown in Tuscany.

The small Sanchimento vineyard was planted in 1989 by Fausto Cinelli, Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s father. It surrounds the San Clemente chapel at Fattoria del Colle. Chimento is in fact the name that was used locally instead of Clemente in the tongue that then became Sienese vernacular.
IGT Toscana Sanchimento 2020 is consequently a BIO Supertuscan produced in a small series of 2000 bottles. An exclusive wine for wine lovers that will visit or stay at Fattoria del Colle in 2021.

1 March 2021

Gabriele Gorelli the first Italian Master of Wine

He is from Montalcino a polyglot, kind, intelligent, a great worker and communicator, he knows and understands wine … the first Italian Master of Wine Gabriele Gorelli

Brookshow and Gorelli Brunello nel cuore book

Brookshow – Gabriele Gorelli, Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Fabrizio Bindocci: book “Brunello nel cuore”

Upon receiving the message of congratulations from Violante and me he replies <<Dear friends, I know you have always believed strongly in me. This encourages me and makes me proud of the Tuscan and Italian entrepreneurial structure. It has been difficult, very difficult. I still cannot believe it … Thank you so much , G.>> Just a few words that transmit the great tension, still not assimilated, with respect to a trail that has been demanding more than expected and the subsequent great emotion. Practically under shock, for the success, chased for 5 years and that all of Italy has been waiting for, for at least thirty.

ITALIAN WINE EXPERTS WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY IN ESTABLISHING THEMSELVES BY REMAINING IN THEIR HOMELAND

It really seemed like a running joke, among the 418 Master of Wine there were wine experts from 32 nations but nobody from Italy. Practically a stamp of our wine provincialism manifested far too often: let us remember the embarrassing occasion of the tem contest for sommeliers on October 12th 2019 at the Castle of Chambord in France, where our team were last out of 27 nations taking part. Two times in a row this happened.

Benvenuto Brunello: the ceremony behind the scenes with Gabriele Gorelli

Our wine experts are technically very strong and when they go abroad they are like fireworks. Think of Matteo Montone, from Milan living in London who won the title of Best Young Sommelier in the World in 2019 and, last summer became part of the Court of Master Sommelier. In this association too there are 267 members from all over the world, only two are Italians, both work abroad though.
The most sensational case however is Paolo Basso who won the title of Best Sommelier in the World ASI in 2013 competing for Switzerland.
Gabriele Gorelli seems to defeat this cliché of provincial Italians in their homeland able to bloom only abroad. In fact Gabriele is a young DOCG born and bred among the Brunello vineyards, his grandfather had a small piece of land, and he has never changed is residency.

19 February 2021

How to place wine glasses on the table

A brief note on wine glass etiquette. How to place them on the table and when to remove the glassware apt for appreciating the Bacchus’s delicacies

How to place wine glasses on the table

The rules are few and simple: wine glassware is positioned from right to left. The wine glass for the entree is the first on the right and the one for dessert is last on the left. Better to use glasses without a stem for water so as to make it easier to identify.

BEST USE A TUMBLER FOR WATER AND STEMMED GLASSWARE FOR ALL WINES

A while back the water glass was the largest but with the arrival of noticeably larger wine glasses it has been necessary to find a practical alternative so as to not occupy too much space on the table. Those used to the old etiquette, however, often pour water into the large wine glasses for red wines and then feel terribly embarrassed. The new wine glasses are in fact much more bulky than the “old style” ones but also much easier to wash. I can remember the nightmare of washing the etched and engraved crystal glassware around 50 years ago, that would chip at the slightest contact, and would cut the hands of those washing them like razors. They were so impractical to remain nearly always shut in cabinets and so they would get passed on from generation to generation, clutter that nobody knew what to do with.

Wine glasses on the table at the restaurant

ENOUGH OF THIS REVERENTIAL FEAR OF CRYSTAL GLASSES, THEY ARE INDISPENSABLE TO TASTE WINE

The prices of crystal wine glass have been reduced a lot and at present it is possible to buy “singing crystal” at less than four euro each glass. So now there is a much less reverential rapport towards crystal ware and laying the table has lost the magical charm, like a religious rite, it had long ago.
I like to put all the glasses on the table before my guests sit down but this forces me to limit it to four-five glasses per person so we taste only four or five wines. This is not a bad thing, meals with endless wine tastings, like long ago, and are considered inappropriate in the health logic of the new millennium. To avoid abuse and increasing the tastings one should use a wine spittoon but these must absolutely be avoided at the table.

22 January 2021

We must look at red wine with more attention

Red wine reveals many of its secrets upon visual inspection: alcohol content, consistency, freshness, age … are all evident to the naked eye before reaching the nose or mouth

visual inspection of wine: colour

Each of us during the Sommelier courses listened to the instructions regarding the visual inspection of the wine with a certain condescending air.

Do not deny it; it has happened to all of us.

To begin with it is the aroma and tastes that attract attention because they are a rediscovery of the senses, that for the past century we have all used very little. Our lifestyle and the structure of our brain privilege sight, while the use of the nose and tongue has progressively been reduced to a simple “I like it” or “I don’t like it”. The Sommelier course is often a way to rediscover aromas and tastes because slowly they become understandable messages.

SWIRLING THE WINE IN THE GLASS

For this reason the visual analysis is often underestimated whereas listening to people such as the World Champion Sommelier Luca Martini, it is easy to understand how important this is in understanding a wine. His first suggestion is to <<look at how the wine moves in the glass>> the slowness is typical in rich wines while the watery ones with no substance are much faster. Generally filtering worsens the situation.
The legs left on the inside of the glass once the wine has swirled tell us a lot especially the way they descend. More alcoholic components there are (ethanol, glycerol) closer together the legs will be.

4 December 2020

6 VINEYARD ANIMALS

Let’s start from an article by Lucy Shaw for The Drinks Business regarding 10 animals mostly used in the vineyards around the world, and then I will propose my 6 vineyard animals for Italian wineries

Vineyard Animals: bees in Montalcino at Villa I Cipressi – Hubert Ciacci