Vines and wines

6 October 2022

WHO WE WERE, WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WILL BE

The dream of producing great wines comes true. Donatella Cinelli Colombini tells of the difficult beginning and the slow creation of a brand with a strong identity

2002 Casato-Prime -Donne-Montalcino-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini-in-the-cellar

1998-2002 HEROIC YEARS

20 hectares of old vineyard and 5 hectares of new planting on an excavation that unfortunately will have many problems and a short life.

There are no cellars and the wine is held part at the Fattoria dei Barbi and part of it in spaces rented from producer friends.

The production of wine begins with a “dowry” of the future Brunello 1993, 94, 95, 96 and 97

The “Donatella Cinelli Colombini” brand is created, along with the logo and labels of the first wines. The Prime Donne project is born with the winery managed by a female staff, the Brunello selected by a group of female tasters and the Casato Prime Donne award dedicated to the new female role in society and work.

In 2001 the winery of the Fattoria del Colle was inaugurated

In 2002 the Casato Prime Donne winery was inaugurated

Planting of the new vineyards begins: Cenerentola and Pieve at Fattoria del Colle, Ardita and Pero at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino

Experimentation of the native Foglia Tonda vine starting from 400 grafts from the vitarium of the Regione Toscana

The vines are cultivated in a conventional way, in the cellar there are barrels and barriques. The oenologists are initially Luigino Casagrande and then Fabrizio Ciufoli.

23 June 2022

in Forum: News and lifestyle, Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Poolwine

A category invented by the young sommelier Vincenzo Donatiello in 2018 which includes wines for the swimming pool: fresh, immediate and pleasant but never trivial

Poolwines-vini-da-piscina-Spumante-Rosè-Metodo-Classico-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Wine experts snub them by branding them as thirst quenchers without real quality but actually they exist all over the world. The French call them vins de soif that is wines for thirst, in English they take the name of poolwine which corresponds to the swimming pool wines proposed by the Lucanian sommelier Vincenzo Donatiello.

VINCENZO DONATIELLO AND POOLWINES

It was this thirty-year-old professional who proposed them for the first time in Italy in 2018. Vincenzo was the maître of the Piazza Duomo restaurant in Alba until February 2022, with the starred chef Enrico Crippa.

9 June 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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ROSSO DI MONTALCINO 2020, 5 STARS

In Montalcino, for the first time, there have been 3 extraordinary harvests 2019, 2020 and 2021 one after the other. The one in the middle is extraordinary for its bouquet and full taste

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Never before has there been such a favorable sequence. A great gift for winemakers but also a great challenge because the three vintages had very different characteristics and therefore had to be interpreted in a different way.

2020 started badly with a small frost during the bud (18-23 March) which reduced the quantity of grapes. The winter was mild and arid. The rain came in June in a very abundant way, throughout the month. The heat began in mid-July and lasted until September with almost no rain but with a strong difference in temperature between night and day. At the time of harvest, the grapes were very small, perfectly ripe and with totally lignified seeds. They gave rise to colourful and fragrant musts with the typical crunchiness of the great Sangiovese vintages.

Rosso di Montalcino 2020 comes from the same ORGANIC vineyards as Brunello. The winemakers at Casato Prime Donne, just before the harvest, divide the vineyards into small plots, by tasting the grapes. Those to be used for the Rosso di Montalcino must have a good component of polyphenols and potential alcohol but lower than those that will produce the wine destined for long aging. Rosso di Montalcino must in fact give satisfaction to those who drink it in the first years of life.

11 May 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Il Drago e le 8 Colombe IGT Toscana Rosso 2019

Donatella Cinelli Colombini presents her Supertuscan Il Drago e le 8 Colombe, for the first time in organic version

2019 the harvest of the super Sangiovese, the year in which the bunches and berries of the king of Tuscany grape variety looked like Cabernet, the king of the Bordeaux vineyard.A dream of a harvest, with abundant, perfect grapes that were harvested by hand and then vinified in small vats where the must quickly took on a very intense colour.

Sangiovese 2019 grape harvest after 4 days

The bunches of Sagrantino and Merlot, which also make up the blend of Il Drago e le 8 Colombe were also of the highest quality. Each grape variety was vinified separately but, to make the most of the richness of the 2019 grapes, all made a very long post fermentation maceration. For this reason the racking was postponed for a week – ten days for all types: Sangiovese, Merlot and Sagrantino.

There was also a small variation in the aging in cask compared to usual. When the wine was ready to be moved from the vats to the barrels, the Covid epidemic caused the first lockdown, forcing the cellar work to be slowed down. Too bad because precisely because of the superior quality of the vintage, the quantity of barrels purchased was greater than usual.

IL DRAGO E LE 8 COLOMBE: A WINE DEDICATED TO MEN FROM THE ALL-FEMALE WINERY

The cellars belonging to Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle, in Trequanda, where this wine is born, are the first in Italy with an entirely female staff. Il Drago e le 8 Colombe is dedicated to the only male present: Carlo Gardini, husband to Donatella and creator of small, highly awarded series of Passito and Vin Santo. He is the dragon mentioned in the name of the wine and surrounded by 8 doves: the consultant Valérie Lavigne, the oenologists Barbara, Sabrina, Giada and the cellar staff, the incoming and sales staff. An oenological gynoecium that is constantly growing in number.

SUPERTUSCAN – IGT TOSCANA IL DRAGO E LE 8 COLOMBE

Il Drago e le 8 Colombe is an “author’s wine” and does not belong to any denomination. This category arises from the need to express the creativity of wine makers without subjecting them to the rules of the Doc-Docg regulations. The name Supertuscan highlights the qualitative ambitions of the wines of this type which enjoy a great international prestige. Il Drago e le 8 Colombe contains three different grape varieties: Sangiovese, which gives the wine its elegance, Merlot (20%) which adds pleasantness and Sagrantino (20%) which increases the structure. All the grapes are grown, vinified, aged in cask, bottled and refined at Fattoria del Colle in compliance with the BIO (organic) rules.

28 April 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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93 and 93/100 to the two 2017 Brunellos 2017 by WS

Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator tasting director explains the 2017 harvest and rewards Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Brunellos with two 93/100

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It is wonderful to see your wines in the Wine Spectator Insider. A weekly preview of Wine Spectator that reaches wine lovers and collectors from all over the world. It is like seeing your jewel in the Cartier window on Place Vendome in Paris, that is, in the city of fashion and in the most visible spot for the most glamorous millionaires.
There are two 2017 Brunellos made by Donatella Cinelli Colombini in the Wine Spectator Insider and both with 93/100. Excellent result that our USA Importer immediately relaunched on social networks.

BRUCE SANDERSON’S DESCRIPTION OF THE 2017 VINTAGE OF BRUNELLO

Bruce Sanderson’s description of the 2017 harvest is masterful in terms of synthesis and effectiveness << The winter was mild and rainy until March, when temperatures increased, leading to an early bud break. In mid-April, a frost occurred which caused some damage. However, the biggest impact was the drought from May to August, with high temperatures in July and August…. The rain in mid-September refreshed the vines and revived the grapes>>.

14 April 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Cenerentola Orcia Doc 2018

First certified BIO organic vintage of Doc Orcia Cenerentola for a year of giant stature. An intense, complex, velvety and impressive wine like a thick silk velvet, which reveals a superior consistency to the touch

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A surprising result in a surprising year that asked the winemakers for all their commitment. In spring they also worked on Sundays to keep the grapes healthy from the attacks of downy mildew triggered by the alternation between rain and very hot days. Even the flowering was disturbed by the perturbations causing the reduction in the size and number of the clusters.

THE CRAZY CLIMATE OF 2018 A YEAR OF INCESSIVE RAIN

The number of rainy days in 2018 is impressive: 16 in January, 16 in February, 20 in March, 11 in April and 18 in May. The amount of rain was also impressive. At the end of May, the Fattoria del Colle was also hit by a “water bomb” which flooded the historic cellar where the barrels are located. After mid-August, an icy perturbation arrived that whitened the mountains and stiffened the cells of the grape skins.

2018 VINTAGE BLESSED BY THE SUN OF SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER

Meteorologists had predicted a sunny September but after a summer with an umbrella no one believed them.

Grape-Harvest-2018-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

Instead the sun came, giving a helping hand to the harvest. The vines were de-leafed in the “old way” and the calibre of the berries returned to normal and the accumulation of sugar gradually increased.
In Donatella Cinelli Colombini‘s vineyards we bet on the sun and decided to do a harvest like our “grandparents, as was the custom 50 years ago. We picked the least promising grapes first, leaving the best in the sun as long as possible. A heart-pounding situation because of the adverse weather forecasts which, fortunately, turned out to be wrong. The harvest proceeded in the sun. The rain came the day after the harvest ended. The quality of Cinderella 2018 is in our winemaker courage.

24 March 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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ROBERT PARKER WINE ADVOCATE 95+, 94 & 93

Robert Parket-Wine Advocate rewards the new Brunello’s by Donatella Cinelli Colombini with excellent ratings and also the Rosso di Montalcino with 90/100

Brunello-Prime-Donne-2017-Robert-Parker- 94/100

It is always a great pleasure to receive positive reviews regarding one’s wines and when there are many it is truly a feast. Wineries generally notice that a good rating has been published thanks to the arrival of orders. In this case, Violante Cinelli Colombini, sales manager, received a substantial booking from Canada and shortly after another from the USA, “a good score must have come out”, she said with a smile. Shortly after she read the good news on the Wine Advocate-Robert Parker website: 95+ for Brunello Riserva 2016. 94/100 for Brunello 2017 “Prime Donne”. 93/100 for Brunello 2017 and a nice 90/100 at Rosso di Montalcino 2019. This latter is perhaps the most spectacular result because it concerns a wine that is not part of the Montalcino oenological Olympus but rather part of the younger and less expensive ranks.

All these wines come from Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s cellar in Montalcino, Casato Prime Donne which has been certified BIO since 2018.

Brunello-2017-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini-93/100-Robert-Parker

Let’s see one by one the reviews and descriptions written by the talented Monica Larner, editor for Italian wines of Wine Advocate – Robert Parker and an excellent journalist with an exploratory nature.

95+ BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA 2016

Silky and refined, it also shows the power and intensity that characterize the climate of this classic vintage. The tannins of the wine, the freshness, the flavour of the fruit, rich and harmonious, ensure that no element dominates the other. There is a crunchiness or a tension on the finish that underlines the quality of the Sangiovese of this vintage.

11 March 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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OFFER: VINTAGE 2018 – A SPECIAL SELECTION FOR EASTER

2018 vintage with the best wines produced at Fattoria del Colle in Tuscany: Cenerentola Doc Orcia, Supertuscan Il Drago e le 8 Colombe, Spumante Brut Rosè Metodo Classico

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For Easter lunch and to celebrate spring and moments of conviviality with friends, two red wines and even some bubbles!

A unique opportunity for friends of Donatella’s Club. Comparing three versions of the 2018 vintage from Fattoria del Colle including the exclusive preview of the Cenerentola Orcia DOC 2018:

– 2 bottles of Cenerentola Orcia Doc 2018 ORGANIC in preview
– 2 bottles of Supertuscan – IGT Toscana, Il Drago 2018, the last bottles
– 2 bottles of Classic Method Sparkling Wine 2018
– 1 volume “Toscana, terra di vini – Tuscany, land of wines” of the Regione Toscana with explanations on the Tuscan Denominations, and the vines used in our region.

SANGIOVESE PROTAGONIST, BUT ALSO AFFABLE PARTNER IN THIS OFFER

2 of the wines in this selection see the addition of other varieties to Sangiovese, varieties that bring structure and power.

Sangiovese at Fattoria del Colle grows in an area of 17 hectares with southwest exposure, with calcareous-clayey soils particularly rich in mineral micronutrients: ideal conditions to give the wines great polyphenolic content, depth and evolutionary potential.

2018-vintage-Tuscan-wines-March-Offer-Supertuscan-Spumante-Rosè-Brut-Cenerentola-Doc-Orcia

For those who do not already know the Fattoria del Colle, it has at its centre a sixteenth-century villa in an ancient hamlet transformed to accommodate tourists in rooms, apartments and villas, with three swimming pools, a restaurant, a banquet and conference room, the area for natural well-being, and the cooking school.

In the splendid cellar for Chianti Superiore, Supertuscan and Doc Orcia wines, a new room is dedicated to the Sangiovese vines, which is told through a video showing the vineyards in the 4 seasons and at 4 different times of the day.

31 January 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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CELLAR YOUR WINE AT CASATO PRIME DONNE

A new and exciting project for those who love wine for long ageing and dream of having their corner in a prestigious winery in Montalcino

Realizing this dream as a wine lover and creating a community of new friends around it becomes possible with “Affina in cantina” – a project created and implemented by Vigneron.wine.
It is possible to buy the bottles now and leave them to refine in the Casato Prime Donne cellar in Montalcino, where there are ideal conditions of temperature, humidity and darkness.

Refine-your-wine-in-the-cellar-at-Casato-Prime-Donne-in-Montalcino-a-project-for-great-wine-lovers

REFINE YOUR WINE IN THE CELLAR – BECOME A PROTAGONIST IN THE LAND OF BRUNELLO

An experience for true enthusiasts that allows, even those who do not have an ideal place to cellar wine at home, to buy and store important bottles to drink, perhaps in a few years time, on an important day.

Those who buy will receive a certificate and their bottles will have a unique identification code so that they cannot be replaced and are always kept in a special space in the cellar. After 3-6 years, when the wine has reached the TOP quality, the wine lover will be able to collect them without other additional costs for their conservation even if the value of the wine will certainly have increased.

HAVE BOTTLES AGING AT CASATO PRIME DONNE, GO TO SEE THEM AND BE ABLE TO COLLECT THEM A FEW AT A TIME

Refine-your-wine-in-the-cellar-at-Casato-Prime-Donne-in-Montalcino-a-project-for-great-wine-lovers

Delivery will take place at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino or by requesting the shipment to your home (to be paid separately) even one bottle at a time.

There is also the Generali Italia insurance taken out by Vigneron.wine for the aging bottles in the event of breakage or damage. It covers 100% of their purchase value and half of the increase accrued over time.

DONATELLA AND VIOLANTE CINELLI COLOMBINI PROMISE TO KEEP THE BOTTLES CAREFULLY

On Vigneron.wine it is possible to consult the Wine Observatory which traces the increase in the value of wine over time. In addition, every friend, owner of bottles being aged at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino, has a reserved section “My Cellar” to manage the collection of his bottles.

On our part, we promise to take the utmost care of the bottles purchased by passionate friends with the “Affina in Cantina” project. They can come and see them and ask us for photos to check them out every now and then.

25 January 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG 2017

2017 harvest of Casato Prime Donne gave us a powerful and silky “Mediterranean” Brunello, that will perhaps give its best in the first 10-15 years of life

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There is a famous phrase by Winston Churchill (statesman and Nobel Prize for Literature 1874-1965) that corresponds to the feeling of the Brunello winemakers in 2017 << not always to change is equivalent to improving, but to improve you have to change>>.

MONTALCINO REIGN OF THE GREAT SANGIOVESE IN 2017

In truth, Montalcino is among the wine districts most benefited by climate change and, even in 2017, it was spared from frosts and other climatic disturbances that affected other areas.
However, summer 2017 was scorching also in Brunello land. While the oak woods turned orange in the middle of summer, the grape growers at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino looked after the Sangiovese vineyards with the hoe helping them to overcome stress. In the end, the organic cultivation, which made the soil softer and more alive, as well as the reduction of the bunches and the management of the canopy to shade, have borne their fruit.
Few grapes but very good.

BRUNELLO 2017 HARVEST WITH EXTREME SELECTION OF GRAPES

The harvest was a painstaking work. The grapes were harvested by hand dividing the bunches of the two sides of the espaliers. Something slow, artisanal and very demanding both from an organizational and an economic point of view.
But <<to improve you have to change>> and maybe change means going back to the grandparents’ systems and recuperating from your memory the old vineyard practices. And here, as in the past, the winemakers first picked the less good grapes and then returned to the same vineyards to take the ones destined for Brunello. The winemakers Barbara Magnani has baptized this system <<reverse harvest>>.
The result is an extremely satisfying “Mediterranean” Brunello, with more alcohol and extracts than usual, but with a surprising freshness, an excellent pleasantness and a good persistence.
It will perhaps give its best in the first 10-15 years of life.
In 2017, Brunello Riserva was not produced and the Prime Donne selection was reduced to half of the normal amount. This has allowed us to raise the quality of the classic Brunello di Montalcino.

21 January 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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OFFER: MIX OF FLAGSHIP WINES

For our wine loving friends a special selection from our two wineries and an exclusive online tasting with Donatella and Violante Cinelli Colombini

Special-selection-mix-of-flagship-wines-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

BRUNELLO 2015, SUPERTUSCAN IL DRAGO E LE 8 COLOMBE 2018 AND OUR ORCIA DOC LEONE ROSSO 2019 AT HOME

For relaxing moments at home, for those who love to experiment with dishes from all over the world and even mix and serve them during same dinner. For those who have fun and get excited by combining foods and wines from different cultures.
To these wine lovers we offer a 6-bottle carton with three family wines from Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s vineyards and matured in her cellars at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in southern Chianti in Tuscany. The carton will arrive directly at your home.

We propose again the Brunello di Montalcino 2015 by Casato Prime Donne, a 5-star vintage, more ready to open now, for an evening with friends or for a romantic dinner for two. An extraordinary vintage that was celebrated even before going on the market, and where the climatic trend shows the characteristics of the best Brunello vintages. The international press awarded this wine with excellent ratings:
• “TRE BICCHIERI” Vini d’Italia 2021 – Gambero Rosso
• 95 James Suckling
• 94 Wine Spectator
• 94 Wine Advocate – Robert Parker
• 93 Decanter
• 92 Wine Enthusiast
• 90+ Vinous – Antonio Galloni

Il Drago e le 8 Colombe 2018 instead comes from the Fattoria del Colle where three varieties are used with creativity and produce a true IGT Toscana “signature wine”. Yes, it is dedicated to the all-female staff of our cellars, the 8 doves, but giving an important role to Carlo Gardini, the dragon, Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s husband, the only man who can have his say in the cellar!

The Leone Rosso Doc Orcia 2019 wine, a real preview, is dedicated to the ancestors of the owner who built the Fattoria del Colle and who had a rampant lion on their coat of arms. The grapes for the Leone Rosso Doc Orcia are born right here. This is a memorable harvest. Rated 5 stars for the perfect quality of the grapes.

11 January 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne 2017

The Brunello Prime Donne 2017 is a small selection of 3.300 bottles, obtained by selecting grapes bunch per bunch in Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s vineyards

Brunello-di-Montalcino-Prime-Donne-2017-Casato-Prime-Donne

To say that the grapes for this wine were chosen bunch by bunch is perhaps exaggerated but it is very close to the truth. It is an extreme selection, made by hand in a single day, employing over twenty people in the vineyard.

An accuracy that has given rise to an incredibly elegant and harmonious wine.
The Brunello Prime Donne 2017 has a “Mediterranean” character, will give its best as a young man and has the vigour of the hot vintage in which it was born.

BRUNELLO PRIME DONNE 2017

Donatella Cinelli Colombini was much undecided whether to use this Brunello to produce a Riserva or for the Prime Donne Selection. She submitted the question to the four super tasters who make up the tasting panel of Brunello Prime Donne. Due to Covid they could not meet in the cellar, as usual, and therefore they received the samples at home and gave a written response. They are two Masters of Wine, the English Rosemary George and the Swedish Madeleine Stenwreth, the wine shop owner Astrid Schwarz and the Sommelier Daniela Scrobogna. The 4 experts decided that this Brunello was worthy of becoming “Prime Donne selection” and that it represented the territory and the vintage well.

VINTAGE 2017

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2017 was characterized by two climatic events: a frost at the end of April that affected almost the entire European vineyard that miraculously left Montalcino untouched and a very hot summer with 10 consecutive days, in August, with a temperature of 43 ° C. This last event also touched the Brunello vineyard.

The organic cultivation of the vineyards, the green manure, the frequent ploughing and the use of the foliage of the vines to shade the bunches have all contributed enormously to limiting the damage of the heat, demonstrating, once again, the great vocation of the territory of Montalcino and the advantage of respecting nature and limiting human intervention by letting the vines react independently, to climatic difficulties.

PRIME DONNE PROJECT

The Prime Donne Project was born in 1998 when Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s mother gave her the Casato Prime Donne winery to create her own Brunello production. It consists of four parts: the first Italian winery with an entirely female staff, the Brunello selected by a panel of female tasters, the award focused on new models of femininity and the path with quotes by the winners of the award and the works of art by Tuscan artists.

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

The Casato Prime Donne is a property of 40 hectares on the North Slope of the Montalcino hill, 230m above the sea on land of Pliocene origin characterized by sands and sea clays. This is the coolest side of the Brunello area where ripening is slower. The building, which houses the barrel area, was built at the end of the sixteenth century by the current owner’s ancestors and has around 17 hectares of vineyards cultivated with Sangiovese.

4 January 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Leone Rosso 2019 Doc Orcia

Leone Rosso 2019 Doc Orcia 5 stars with Sangiovese and Merlot in a small and exclusive production born in the vineyards, vinified and aged at Fattoria del Colle

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Leone Rosso Doc Orcia wine is dedicated Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors who built Fattoria del Colle in 1592 and had a rampant lion in their coat of arms. The grapes for the Leone Rosso Doc Orcia are born right in the vineyards of the farm.

A RED LION, SYMBOL OF THE ANCESTORS WHO FOUNDED THE ESTATE IN 1592

This is the Socini or Sozzini family composed of jurists and philosophers. Two of them – Lelio (1525-1562) and Fausto (1539-1604) – went down in history for having played an important role among the European free thinkers who gave birth to Protestantism.
It was precisely their opposition to the Church that led the family to ruin and the Colle farm to be confiscated. The property was bought back by Donatella’s great-grandfather, the engineer Livio Socini around 1919 who almost by chance, gained it from a bankruptcy. When he visited it he realized that in the chapel and in the villa there were his identical coats of arms and understood that fate had put back in his hands, after 400 years, the farm founded by his ancestor Claudio Socini.

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A mysterious thread with the past that Donatella Cinelli Colombini also felt when her father Fausto gave her the Fattoria del Colle in 1998.

LEONE ROSSO DOC ORCIA 2019

2019 is a memorable harvest. Classified 5 stars for the perfect quality of the grapes: small bunches small, ripe and healthy berries. An impressive amount of noble substances that, from the skins of the grapes, went into the must colouring it in a few hours and which were then extracted through a longer maceration than usual.

DOC ORCIA THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WINE IN THE WORLD

The Orcia denomination was born on February 14, 2000 in the hills that are located in the middle of the Brunello and Vino Nobile territories. A beautiful area of southern Tuscany, inscribed since 2004, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to the agricultural landscape preserved over the centuries.
This is why the Doc Orcia is defined as “the most beautiful wine in the world”.
It is also the proximity to two great DOCG wine – Nobile and Brunello – that has pushed Orcia producers to grow qualitatively very quickly and create a distinctive identity towards the millions of tourists and hikers, especially foreigners, who arrive in the area attracted by the beauty of the places and the goodness of the wines.

28 December 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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OFFER: BRUNELLO 2017 AND RISERVA 2016 IN PREVIEW

Members of Donatella’s Club will be among the first in the world to taste Brunello 2017 and the wonderful 2016 Riserva from Casato Prime Donne winery

BRUNELLO RISERVA 2016 AND BRUNELLO 2017 AT YOUR HOME

To start the New Year as every great wine lover dreams of doing.

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Wine lovers from all over the world are waiting for the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2016 which is considered one of the best harvests in the last century. In 2016, in the vineyards at Casato Prime Donne the vegetative cycle of the vines – from the budding to the harvest – was longer than usual, this gave birth to well balanced grapes and deep Brunello wines, and they are satisfying, refined and suitable for long aging.

The total respect for the grapes and the search for purity that characterizes all our work – from the vineyard to the bottle – will surprise you in the 2017 vintage. It is a very hot vintage where the grape growers have shown all their talent. They understood the needs of the Sangiovese vines, cultivating them organically, and helping them to endure the sun. The clayey and cold soil of Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s vineyards and a small amount of rain have allowed the production of grapes of excellent quality from which a Brunello was born, one that will surprise you with its pleasantness, elegance and silkiness.

Casato Prime Donne is a property of 40 hectares of which almost half are of Sangiovese vineyard. The cultivation is organic, certified since 2018. Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s estate already belonged to her ancestors in 1592. It is located in the northern area of Montalcino where the climate is cooler and the soils are colder and rich in clays.

23 December 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA 2016

In the wonderful 2016 harvest, 5 stars, the best Brunello Riserva ever produced at Casato Prime Donne, apt for long cellaring

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There is a magic, a mystery, a beauty … in nature, which must be understood and enhanced. In 2016 in the vineyards at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino one of these wonders took place in the Sangiovese grapes for Brunello.

THE MAGIC OF THE BRUNELLO 2016 BORN FROM A LONG VEGETATION CYCLE

Every year, to produce grapes, the vine performs a vegetative cycle similar to the pregnancy that gives birth to babies.
For women it lasts nine months, for the vine six.
Two months from budding to flowering, two months from flowering to veraison, which means to the change of colour of the clusters and the last two months until harvest.
With climate change when it is very hot the budding takes place, often, 15 days sooner and therefore also the harvest generally takes place in advance compared to the traditional calendar.
Instead, in 2016, the vegetative cycle, so the pregnancy of the grapes began early and ended late because in the last phase the climate slowed down the ripening.

Brunello-di-Montalcino-Riserva-2016-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

This has created an authentic masterpiece in the vineyards at Casato Prime Donne. The perfect grapes that produced a very elegant and satisfying Brunello, silky like very thick velvet, deep and able to defy time.

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

Casato Prime Donne is a property of 40 hectares of which almost half are vineyards of Sangiovese variety. The cultivation is organic, certified since 2018. Donatella Cinelli Colombini‘s estate already belonged to her ancestors in 1592. It is located in the northern area of Montalcino where the climate is cooler and the soils are colder and rich in clays.
Cultivation and harvesting are manual. Shortly before full ripening, the grapes are tasted to divide the vineyards into small parcels with homogeneous characters and to decide the harvest calendar. The area with the greatest qualitative potential is destined to the production of Brunello Riserva.