Vines and wines

Paris is well worth a mass!

 

Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Brunello is in Paris

I met Oliver Nicolazo and his girlfriend Julia here at Fattoria del Colle where the young couple were spending a romantic holiday. Oliver is a wine lover and knows many wineries around the world, he is curious, always smiling and constantly looking for excellent new wines to taste which are to fascinate and charm him.
He lives in Paris where he is the owner and manager of “Cave Nicolas”. And when I arrived in the French capital to conclude my Master OIV I make the most of the opportunity and go and visit him.
His shop is well visible from the outside and is well organized, with many shelves, and on shelf in the centre our Brunello stands out.

The Brunello 2007 begins its journey around the world with a rating of 94/100

Monica Larner, the very clever taster for the “Wine Enthusiast” magazine, is the first to have tasted and to have expressed her opinion regarding the Brunello 2007. Her opinion is very positive regarding the whole production, and in particular regarding ours. Here is the beginning of her article << The 2007 vintage of Brunello di Montalcino is a lovely expression of variety and territory—a true celebration of this austere yet sophisticated red wine from southern Tuscany. Wine Enthusiast Magazine was among the first to blind taste through the new vintage and found it to be indeed one of the most...

Il Drago e le 8 colombe

Today is the beginning of the Chinese New Year and this is the year of the dragon. A magic year for this wine which changes completely.

New vintage, new blend of grapes, new name and new packaging for the Drago wine by Donatella Cinelli Colombini.

The doves represent the women and consequently refer to the female cellar staff, a revolutionary work situation for Italy. With the arrival of the female consultant wine maker Valérie Lavigne the doves increase in number and the name of the wine changes: it used to be called “Il Drago e le Sette Colombe” and has become “Il Drago e le 8 Colombe”

Quite on the contrary the Drago emphasizes a male presence – nobody here wants to be discriminating – in the person of Carlo Gardini, Donatella’s husband who is a great wine lover
The arrival of Valérie Lavigne, sets of a serious thought about Italian grape varieties and the possibility of blending them to make high quality wines that are able to sell on foreign markets.
From here the desire to emphasize the Sagrantino grape, a variety greatly used in Umbria, which is just 20km away from Fattoria del Colle and belongs to the same geographical area. For the moment we are cultivating Sagrantino grapes in just a few rows, but soon it will be possible to harvest a whole new Vineyard.

The Cancello Nero vineyard is beautiful once again

Written By Donatella Cinelli Colombini for the vine and the cellar

The  “Cancello Nero” Vineyard, the best at Fattoria del Colle, is returning to its old glory. A few days ago the grape growers captained by Efisio Luche have planted the poles which will hold the steel wires were the vines will grow.

This is job seems easy but it is not so. In fact the aesthetics want the poles to be well aligned, from whichever angle one is looking at the vineyard. This is only way to give the vine covered hills a harmonious aspect, in that agrees with the surrounding countryside.

The Brunello 2007 is just born

Brunello di Montalcino and other wines

Brunello becomes Brunello at midnight of new years eve. Let me explain

So the new Brunello is just born. In this case it is an extraordinary harvest: vintage 2007 – five stars, where the grapes reached a level of perfection never seen before.

Let me tell you how the climate was in 2007, and why it brought to the production of such wonderful grapes. That year the winter never arrived. In Tuscany it seemed as though one was in Sicily and it was possible to eat out of doors even in January. The rainfalls arrived in Spring. During the summer regardless of a few days of heat wave , the temperatures were quite normal, with some storms that occasionally reduced the temperature and helped the vine’s vegetative cycle.

Which is best Brunello 2006 or 2007?

 Brunello di Montalcino and other wines

 

 

At Casato Prime Donne surely 2007, thanks to the new vineyards that have now reached maturity in the amount produced and the quality They are, however, two extraordinary harvests, one after the other, which is really very rare in Brunello‘s history. Both with a 5 star rating, yet two harvest very different one from the other.

 
It’s worthwhile examining them so as to understand what they have in common and how the best Sangiovese grapes in Montalcino can come from very different situations, so that there cannot be a precise recipe as there is in the kitchen, but how then can be, on the other hand, some natural circumstances which when they coincided must be understood and made the most of by the grape pickers and wine makers.

The 7 doves become 8

Do you remember the wine “Il Drago e le 7 colombe”? With the arrival of Valèrie Lavigne, the all female staff of Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wineries grows. The doves taking flight, symbol of the “Prime Donne” Project, are now 8.

But who is the dragon?It’s Carlo Gardini. He arrived three years ago and is Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s husband. At the beginning his sectors were finance and the estate restaurant, but since last year Carlo is protagonist of wine projects with the creation of a passito and more recently of a Vin Santo “occhio di pernice” which however will be available for tasting in a few years time.

Our Brunello talks Chinese

First Chinese brochure for Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wine and her daughter Violante gets almond shaped eyes doing the editing....

Doc Orcia communicates via mobile phone

News from the Doc Orcia wine region: the Strada del vino Orcia is the first to have a signposting with QRcode on it and the wines of the denomination grow with the types "Sangiovese" and Riserva ...

Brunello in the famous manga Drops of God

The famous Japanese manga "Kami no Shizuko" - "The Drops of God", reaches the Brunello territory. In the pages of this comic one sees the streets of Montalcino, the wineries, some of the most popular bottles and even Stefano Campatelli director of the Consorzio del Brunello ...

The winemaker Valerie Lavigne is here

The famous French winemaker tasted and highly rated the 2011 vintage wines of Donatella Cinelli Colombini ...

90 Percent for Ceneretola DOC Orcia in the Wine Spectator

Cenerentola Doc Orcia 2077 achieved a score of 90/100 points from the famous wine magazine Wine Spectator....