Vines and wines

A white saint in the heretics’ farm

Donatella Cinelli Colombini presents her white wine Sanchimento born at Fattoria del Colle, estate built by her ancestors in the 16th century

The 2013 vintage is one that can be called “old style”- We saw the ripening of the grapes proceed slowly with the sugar content and the acids evolving at the same rate with poliphenols in the skins. The result was a great harvest under a quality point of view, especially for the richness in aromas, and the finesse in the taste. But, it was also a harvest with fewer clusters because of the bad weather during the spring; this ruined the flowering phase reducing the number of clusters and their size. The Traminer grapes from the Sanchimento vineyard, always produces smaller clusters but in 2013 thy really were minute: for this reason they were well able to resist the problems caused by summer rainfalls making the most of the cool summer climate to elaborate an aromatic richness much superior to usual.

How to serve wines at the table- wine bon ton

Small secrets to use at home to serve wine in an elegant way: the choice, the order and most of all the way of serving

 

Seen for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

The first problem is obviously the choice of wines. Real wine lovers decide first on the bottles and after on the food to be matched but usually the menu is chosen first.
As for food with wine too the main rule of table etiquette is that there must be a crescendo of intensity. Obviously lighter white wines to begin with followed by the more robust and powerful ones or young reds. Sometimes it can happen that a young red is served before a great white. It is not a mistake but the underlining of the intensity on the nose of what is in the glass.
For red wines the order is based on age with small exceptions connected to the structure of the wines. Sometimes in fact the deepness and the length of a great Barolo or a great Brunello force a change in the usual rule , so these get served after older wines that are though less intense. The temperatures go from 8°C for sparkling wine, to 10°C for white and rosé, to reach 18°C for young red wines and 20°C for aged reds. To this general rule are the exceptions of desert wines, which are served at the end of the meal. Sometimes are served cooler so as to not overdo the sweetness.

93/100 – Wine Spectator rating for our Brunello Riserva 2008

First in Wine Spectator’s list of Brunello Riserva 2008, it is appreciated for its balanced character and long finish

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

This is Bruce Sanderson’s description <<This ripe juicy Brunello offers plenty of sweet cherry and licorice flavors. The tannins are assertive but overall this is balance. All the elements come together on long finish of briar and tobacco. Best drinking time between 2017 and 2023>>
93/100 is the maximum rating given to a Riserva 2008 Brunello di Montalcino, and we share this wonderful result with La Gerla, Mastrojanni – Vigna Loreto and Poggio Antico.
Bruce Sanderson, the wine critic who, for the last four years has tasted all the Brunellos, spent his first working years in the wine trade, and has been working for 21 years for Wine Spectator where he is one of the “Senior Editors” and he manages the entire “tasting department”.

RCR the crystal castle is in Tuscany

The largest crystal fusion oven in the world, Luxion which seems crystal but does not create pollution … that is what RCR is about

Seen for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

RCR is one of the crystal brands better known internationally but also a world of technology and handiwork where impassioned and creative people work as part of a team in this difficult period and know how to create really innovative solutions.

I am talking about Luxion, a RCR patent which revolutionized the world of crystal because it is ecological, so it does not contain lead and is produced without creating emissions. But it also has other positive aspects: the brilliance and sonority of the crystal but at the same time the elasticity of the glass, so it does not break. I have seen a Luxion goblet be twisted 16° twist for 14,000 times and it remained intact.

Wine tours: where they go and how much the cost

Among the excursions to wineries with guide one finds a bit of everything: from tours for millionaires with top tastings to the wine maker cyclist who accompanies his guests whilst on his bike

Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Obviously the most visited region is Tuscany, obviously the wine tour market is online and the visitors are mostly North American but there is so much on offer, diversified and full of surprises that it is better we examine it with attention also because this subject is quite unexplored.
The first evident thing is that when you digit “winery tours” from the web you get mostly Tuscan proposals, some from Veneto, Piedmont and Sicily whilst if you write “visite in cantina” in Italian Google pulls out a list of wineries in Piedmont and sometimes in Sicily. This is already an indication as to which clientele the

“incoming agencies” have or rather transporters with VAT number and web site who sell wine tours.
A second and more decisive element for reflecting comes from the study carried out by Gruppo Poste Italiane proposed at Confesercenti in Siena in January 2014. On the web the search for the word Tuscany is associated with the word wine (21%) winery (9,7%) winery tours written in various ways ( 13%). The nation which mostly searches the destination Toscana on the l web is the US 31%, if on the other hand we consider the destination Siena the American searchers go up to 64% followed by the British Canadians and Australians making the English speaking group go over 90%.

A great wine ha san excellent cork, keep your eyes open

It is absolutely indispensable to recognize the quality of cork for wine producers but also for the consumers, as it reveals very important things

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

A great wine needs an excellent cork and to learn how to recognize it helps to under stand what we are drinking. I have not said it clearly but everyone had understood that I am talking about the natural wine corks in one piece that are used for great wines.

Obviously, the main function of the cork is to “seal” practically in a hermetic way the bottle. The cork gets more important according to the length of time the wine must age. For a Brunello it is essential while for a Novello no. Those who have antique bottles must check if their corks are beginning to leak (25-years). If the cork is leaking the nit means that it is completely saturate and cannot hold any longer. At that point you either drink the wine or have the bottle  “checked over” in the winery where it was produced. It will be given back to you with a certificate that states that the cork has been changed, in the case of very expensive bottles this is done in the presence of a notary.

A national portal for wine tourism in Italy

Here is my contribution towards #campolibero, the 18 actions foreseen by the Ministero delle politiche agricole upon which Maurizio Martina asks us all for ideas and projects

 

Theme: COMPETITIVENESS AND JOBS
Section: National system for farm consultancy

PRESENTATION OF THE PERSON WHO IS WRITING
My name is Donatella Cinelli Colombini, in 1993 I founded the “Movimento turismo del vino” Wine tourism movement and I invented Cantine aperte, Wine day, the event which really pulled along the development of wine tourism in Italy. From 2001 to 2011 I was Tourist advisor for the city of Siena. Now I have a winery in Montalcino, I am president of the Consorzio dell’Orcia Doc and I am National vice-president of the Associazione Donne del vino. I teach wine tourism in post graduate and master courses in universities and I have signed 19 articles and books on the subject.
I think then that I have the credentials (from both a theory and practical point of view) to give the Ministro Maurizio Martina advice regarding wine tourism
SCENARIO REGARDING WINE TOURISM
This sectors business regards about 3 to 5 billion euro per year – according to how the generated income is considered- it regards about 21.000 wineries with direct sales with only about one thousand really organized for tourist welcoming. It should be organized through a territorial networks called Strade del vino, Wine routes, there are 170 of them and they are the real flop of this sector, as, only about 10 of them work. There is no real National oversight which coordinates the offer according to precise rules and who takes care of divulging and selling it through tourism fairs, the press, the OTA (online travel agencies), transport services ….. but most of all who organizes the web offer so that it be visible, attractive and buyable. To understand the state of things it is sufficient to visit the website for Italian tourism and the French one

http://www.italia.it/it/idee-di-viaggio/mangiare-e-bere.html

http://int.rendezvousenfrance.com/discover/champagne-vineyard

Vineyard price: from 800.000€ down to 30.000

There is a rush to buy in the better known regions and with minor possibilities of expansion, but certain excellent vineyards still have convenient prices

Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Foreign buyer shunt for Italian vineyards: not only people from the US and northern Europe as in the past but also millionaires from Bric nations.
So we have Russians who buy up the historic Gancia di Canelli winery, the Brazilian banker Andrè Santos Esteves who buys the Tenuta di Argiano in Montalcino. A few days ago some South Africans planted their flag near the Monna Lisa – La Gioconda- Vignamaggio villa in the heart of Chianti Classico. But there are also buyers from China around and this keeps the prices high both of the big estates and of the small, which are more prestigious regardless, that the number of estates on sales is higher than ever before.

The prices of “villa with Vineyard” are stable, this type permits one toassociate to a wine production their holidays in Italy with family and friends. The report published by Knight Frank the major consulting and real estate society in the world, indicates for this type, an increase of 20% in 2013 in Tuscany. But let’s go back to the vineyards using the report by Wine News for Vinitaly a few days ago and a previous one by Giorgio dell’Orefice for the “Il Sole 24 ore” based on information by Assoenologi: the prices vary enormously: the most expensive are in Alto Adige from 800-550.000€ the hectare, straight after the Cannubi hill in Barolo where the vineyards costs 700.000€ per hectare. The best land in Prosecco –Conegliano and Valdobbiadene tank to the enormous commercial boom, have prices around 4-500.000€ while in Amarone 480.000€ and in Valpolicella 550.000€. In Veneto as in Trentino the prices decrease to 350-300.000€ outside of the top areas.

Wine at home ages quicker

Wine ages 4 times quicker in the home than in the cellar. This is the recent discovery made by Fondazione Edmund Mach –Istituto di San Michele all’Adige

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

The major research centre regarding Italian wine confirms what producers of great ageing wines already knew though personal experience: domestic storage is a killer for wine. In fact the comment by Professor Fulvio Mattivi author of the study published in “Metabolomics” leaves no room for doubt <<Six months in an apartment make the wine reach a chimical age which is equivalent to a two year refining period in the ideal conditions of a cellar>>.
In the end my grandfather Giovanni Colombini ‘s advice is still valid, advice he gave his Brunello clients <<wine is made for drinking , not to be looked at>>.

Mattivi’s pubblication, entitled “L’influenza della conservazione sull’età chimica dei vini rossi”, underlines, with figures at hand, how domestic room temperatures determine the «forming of composits never seen before, born from the union between tannins and sulphur dioxide accelerating the ageing of red wines». To get these results 400 bottles of Sangiovese ,in dark glass and sealed with real corks, have been monitored. 200 of these were kept in a cellar at the Istituto di San Michele all’Adige where the conditions are ideal (temperaturres between 15 and 17°C, humidity at 70%, darkness). The other 200 were stored in conditions similar to an apartment – laying down and at a

temperature of about 20-27°C. After 6 months the chimical analysis showed great differences

UK, USA, Canada, here is the windows for our Brunello 2009

The feeling is that of being in the emergent part of Montalcino, the coolest one, which has received the biggest benefits from the global warming and which expresses itself with elegant Brunellos.

Brunello wines are greatly appreciated abroad, especially in those countries where wine lovers use to drink bottles coming from the major French Chateau, and prefer those Italian wines with a great harmony and a very long aftertaste.
Casato Prime Donne Brunello belongs to this type of wine: evidence of ripe fruit with soft tannins, roundness and imperceptible but excellent wood.

At the moment our Brunellos from Casato Prime Donne and Orcia DOC wines and Chianti from Fattoria del Colle are at ProWein, the big wine fair in Dusseldorf, where Violante is waiting for importers and experts inside Hall 3, position L51, together with Tuscan wines.

The feedbacks we receive from the market and from experts fill us with satisfaction.

How much is Brunello worth?

The Brunello brand has an estimated value of 700 million Euro according to the Monza Chamber of Commerce, but the productive estimate of Brunello maybe is more than two billion

Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

In 2013 the business regarding the 250 producing wineries, of which 208 also bottle, was valued 165.000.000€ , a third with respect to the brand which is the engine of the local economy. A very high evaluation which finds an explanation in the diffused economy and in the value of real estate which the name Brunello brings with it. Restaurants, hotels, country inns, wine shops, travel agencies….. there are plenty in Montalcino, only thanks to Brunello. And the value of the land and the rural buildings also finds an explanation only in the brand and in the price of the bottles.

Fashion show wines: wineries belonging to stylists

Only Mario Moretti Polegato creator of Geox has gone from wine to fashion, Cavalli, Renzo Rosso, Ferragamo …. All come to wine from fashion

Seen for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

These are designer bottles; they have a pinch of glamour, these bottles created by the great names in fashion that have now turned to wine production. Even when the wineries belong to international stars such as Arnaldo Caprai from Montefalco they bring with them a more creative, international and brilliant imprint. Marco Caprai, the most famous name from Sagrantino, comes from a family of cashmere producers, the same who produce the famous lace bracelets Cruciani.

Donatella Cinelli presents her Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2011

4 stars for the hottest, earliest and quickest grape harvest that man can remember. Small clusters with small grapes all sound and equally ripe [caption id="attachment_8994" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Rosso-di-Montalcino-2011-Casato-Prime-Donne-two bottles"][/caption] The heat in August, when the temperatures were very high, during both the day and night, accelerated the ripening. This also brought forward the harvest date. The Sangiovese clusters at Casato Prime Donne were picked between the 15th and 22th of September with a scorching sun. In the cellar the grapes were chosen with particular care on the sorting table that was especially lengthened, so as to be able to remove all the...