Vines and wines

Brunello Riserva 2012 five stars

Brunello Riserva is an extraordinary wine because it can last for decades. At Casato Prime Donne it is produced only in the best harvests

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

The production of Brunello Riserva depends on the climate, the rainfall and the sun, mostly during August and September. It is possible to know right from the tasting of the grapes, this is when the picking dates are chosen. If in the vineyards there are Sangiovese grapes of extraordinary quality then it is possible to produce the Brunello Riserva.

That is the reason why it is made only in certain years and the quantity differs every time, even though it is always a small production. These productions are in fact always less than the requests by collectors and wine lovers from all over the world who wish to store these bottles in their cellars for important events.

The grapes nearly always come from a vineyard called Ardita on the highest point of Casato Prime Donne. This plot where the best clusters come from is delimited with red flags, the 5-7 hl French oak barrels where the Brunello Riserva ages for about three years are also flagged with red heart.  Small signs that help the grape growers and the cellar staff remember where the small masterpiece is born, this masterpiece that needs constant care and attention until bottling time.

Brunello Riserva is made for a lengthy ageing. This means that it must have a tannic and acidic structure able to preserve it in time. To balance these characteristics and make it pleasing even when young it is necessary that there be richness in fruit (polyphenols) that give aroma and balance the power. The Brunello Riserva 2012 has all these characteristics.

Type: dry red.

Production area: Tuscany, Montalcino, Casato Prime Donne.

Vintage characteristics: Cold and dry winter with lots of snow. Very hot summer until September when the rain showers slowed the ripening of the grapes allowing the sugars to build up in the berries at the same rate as the growth of the extractable polyphenols.

Grape type: 100% Sangiovese (Brunello).

Grape harvest: from September 12-14th. Small clusters with regular ripening. Grapes seeds completely lignified. The harvest was manual, with a careful selection of the grapes, after two women on the sorting table discarded the defected berries.

Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini- 2012-harvest

Vinification: In stainless steel truncated cone shaped vats, each individually temperature controlled and open on top, so as to vinify without the use of pumps. The alcoholic fermentation went regularly with spontaneously low temperatures. It lasted 16 days and was then followed by 20 days of maceration.

Barrel ageing:  5 -7 hl small French oak tonneaux produced by 5 artisans who assure manual production. The type of oak, charring and dimension of the barrels has been specifically chosen based on the character of the wine. There has been no filtering before bottling.

Brunello Prime Donne 2013, marvelous

Brunello Prime Donne 2013

Brunello Prime Donne 2013 is a masterpiece produced only in a limited number of bottles. Just 6,300 botles for those who love a traditional style

The  Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne 2013 will surprise you because of its aromas of small red fruits and spices, because it spreads in the mouth with a powerful and harmonious taste that lasts at length

A long lasting and pleasing wine that has beaten the initial forecasts, as in the past happened for the Brunello 1999.

In fact everyone had understood the “old style” of the 2013 harvest but only a few had foreseen its finesse, its quality and most of all its ability to last in time, revealed only after this Brunello was aged in barrel.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini considers the Brunello Prime Donne the flagship for her wineries, the first in Italy with an all female staff.

The idea for this wine was born in 1998 when Donatella noticed that the wine tasters for the Italian wine guides were all men. She decided then to reunite a group of great female wine experts asking them to taste, in a blind tasting, the future Brunello from different barrels, and to choose the one they liked the best. A way of stating that women’s’ tastes are important and that women tasters are just as clever as their male colleagues.

A dragon shaped QR code

The Il Drago e le 8 Colombe wine tells its story through a QR Code on the label, containing curiosities in Italian and in English

Il Drago e le 8 Colombe IGT Fattoria del Colle Toscana

For someone who thinks she knows about wine communication this really is the limit:  Donatella Cinelli Colombini is one of the last to do wine storytelling on the label …. But those who drink her Drago e le 8 Colombe will be able to learn about the strange name chosen for the wine, and the strange blend, by simply scanning the QR code with their mobile phone. A way to discover the Tuscan traits not only in the glass but also through descriptions.

Il Drago e le 8 Colombe comes from Fattoria del Colle in the middle of the oldest and best preserved area of Tuscany and it brings with it aroma of ripe red fruits and the powerful and harmonious taste typical of a hilly territory where the aril is clean and the ripening of the grapes is slow. Typical food in this region grilled beef steak and pecorino cheese, both wonderfully matched with the Il Drago e le 8 Colombe IGT Toscana.

Il Drago e le 8 Colombe IGT Violante Gardini Cinellicolombini Jr

The vineyards are cultivated following the organic regime and by hand as has been done for centuries. In the cellar there are only women. But there is also a dragon this is Carlo Gardini, husband to Donatella Cinelli Colombini the owner, he is one of the initiators of the new experimentations. A game of symbols that say that the Fattoria del Colle winery is feminine not feminist because the great wines have no gender and they are produced and consumed by those who love nature, culture and good things.

Montalcino a village of wine and wine sellers

Let’s take a peek at the wine stores and restaurants in Montalcino to see how wine tourism is changing and how the trade that welcomes it changes too

Enoteca-Pierangioli- Montalcino-Stefania

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Brunello, Casato Prime Donne

On one thing everyone agrees << 2017 has been a great year for tourism in the Brunello region>> . Helped by the hot climate that has urged people to leave the cities, but has put our vines through great difficulties, but it also has increases tourism in the countryside by putting in a line row and rows of fantastic beautiful days.

Lots of tourists and lots of tasting and shopping.

While talking to those who work in contact with tourists it is possible to discover some curious things.  The wine lovers who come to Montalcino desire most of all to discover Brunello and concentrate their buying sprees on this <<they are not even interested in the Rosso di Montalcino, they want only Brunello>> says Sergio Pierangioli who however admits <<your Cenerentola Doc Orcia sells well, maybe it’s because of the name, maybe because of the label, maybe because it is different …>>.

Enoteca-BD-Bruno Dalmazio-Montalcino

There is though another sort of wine lover that wants to taste and most of all buy excellent bottles from the most famous Italian appellations and so has stores ship them home bottles of Barolo, Amarone, Aglianico … <<they do not have the time to visit all of the famous wine regions but they want to buy these wines because in Brazil or Canada they would cost much much more>> they explain in the BD Bruno Dalmazio wine store.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wine medal collection

The excellent ratings from the International press regarding Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wines made in the first Italian wineries to be staffed only by women

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Montalcino, Brunello, Casato Prime Donne

Donatella Cinelli Colombinis’ wine

The results are excellent, for the whole range, obviously the Brunello bottles obtain higher ratings, but even the simpler wines have had excellent reviews. It is a great motive of pride, and means that all has been done well in the vineyard and in the cellar, but most of all it also signifies having a great respect for one’s clients. <<In my winery there are not bottles especially for journalists and VIP’s, we have some sections at higher prices, but all the bottles are the same and the market is repaying us for this choice of honesty and correctness>>.

Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda have 34 hectares of vineyards cultivated organically and manually cared for.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wine

There are two cellars, in historic buildings and fermentation areas in modern structures. Here to the passion and daily attention are evident in the handmade tonneaux, the new truncated cone shaped bare concrete vats , the plungers that allow the fermentation to happen without the use of pumps… so many details that help preserve the natural harmony that wine gets from grapes. In the end, only 160.000 bottles sold in 35 nations but none go to supermarkets.

<<Here are the ratings for my last vintages>> says Donatella Cinelli Colombini, quite rightly proud <<I shall be expecting you in Tuscany to see my small but wonderful wineries>>

Orcia Doc Cenerentola puts on her crown

Cenerentola becomes a princess with the 2015 harvest. A five star harvest with quality levels never reached before for Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Orcia Doc wine

Cenerentola-2015-Orcia-Doc

Cenerentola becomes a princess with the 2015 harvest. This is the happy finale after a long journey, lots of trials, lots of hopes and a great dream. It was in 2000 that Donatella Cinelli Colombini fell in love with a Sienese grape variety that was practically extinct: Foglia Tonda. A vigorous and rustic variety that in the poor Tuscan vineyards a century ago did not get thinned out with green harvesting and consequently did not ripen. But Donatella together with her agronomists has found the way to make the vines less productive and bring the clusters to perfect ripening. They also learnt which are the best soils and expositions for this variety that, if cultivated in humid areas with little sun well expresses its objections.

In the cellar too there have been many experiments and not all lucky ones. Now the Foglia Tonda variety is picked for last, it ferments and ages alone, for at least 12 months in 5 hectolitres French oak tonneaux, this is when it joins the best Sangiovese made at Fattoria del Colle.

Cenerentola-2015-Orcia-Doc

In its sales Cenerentola’s story is all uphill, like all other wines based on rare autochthonous grape varieties.

It is different and 15 years ago journalists’ appreciation didn’t go to more territorial wine making. Then what was rare become trendy, the autochthonous, like what is natural, and so Cenerentola began to find more and more important and better and better ratings from the great experts.

A Rosa di Tetto rosé for Donatella Cinelli Colombini

2016 is a 5 star harvest  where the vines had a vegetative cycle that was extremely long. A slow and perfect ripening of the grapes produced  masterpiece grapes for this Rosa di Tetto.

Rosa-di-tetto-IGT-Toscana-Rosato-Fattoria-del-Colle

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Rosato IGT, Toscana

Rosa di Tetto is produced at Fattoria del Colle from a Sangiovese vineyard planted in 1999 and cultivated according to the organic regime at 400m above sea level. It has a more French style rather than Italian, evident in its faded out pink colour but most of all in the taste and rich aroma that recalls green apple and flowers.

It is strange to say but sometimes the best Sangiovese is not beautiful to the eye. In fact the grapes of this variety have a much more delicate skin than the Cabernet or Merlot varieties, and for this reason, when they are perfectly ripe, as in 2016, they are very fragile and break with just touching them. In our winery we pick by hand, choosing the clusters one by one in the vineyard. Then they are rapidly brought to the cellar to avoid that they lose liquid and begin the fermentation inside the crates.

Harvest-2016-Fattoria-del-Colle

The result is like a dance, among the rows of vines, the pickers bend and stand up, the crates are first on the ground then brought up into the air to empty rapidly the clusters into the bins that bring them into the cellar. In less than 20 minutes the grapes reach the sorting table, that chooses the best grapes and then into the fermentation tanks.

The 2016 harvest had an extraordinary quality potential, and for this reason the group of pickers was made up of more than 15 people. This allowed us to pick each small plot of vineyard on the exact day of perfect ripening and so produce high quality wines for the whole range of the two wineries Fattoria del Colle and Casato Prime Donne.

Sanchimento 2016 only 2000 bottles IGT

The 2016 5 star vintage. Limited edition of only 2000 bottles for the I.G.T. Toscana Sanchimento from Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Fattoria del Colle

Sanchimento-2016-IGT-Toscana-bianco-Fattoria-del-Colle

The small Sanchimento vineyard was planted in 1990 with Traminer grapes on the north side of the hill that goes up behind the chapel at Fattoria del Colle 404 m above sea level. The soil is deep with mostly clay and quaternion deposits.

The choice of the Traminer variety is quite unusual in Tuscany and depends on Fausto Cinelli’s preference; he was Donatella’s father, for this variety which wants cool climates and especially cold nights like those at Fattoria del Colle.

From this vineyard Donatella Cinelli Colombini produces only 2000 bottle a year of I.G.T. Toscana bianco. A small and cosseted selection that bears the name of the

Trequanda-Fattoria-del-Colle-Cappella-di-San-Clemente

chapel next to the vineyard: San Clemente I Pope in 97 a.D. in Sebastopoli. San Chimento is in fact the medieval name of the same saint.

The 2016 vintage is one of the best of the last few years thanks to its very long vegetative cycle was very long, the vines did sprout early and arrived at complete ripening in the usual dates, in   a gradual and slow manner. From this happy instance and from the cold nights in September, depends the particular richness in aroma of the Sanchimento 2016.

A Chianti Superiore that lives up to its name

Chianti Superiore is produced all over the Chianti territory except in Chianti Classico. It indicates the best grape and Chianti wine selections

Chianti-Superiore-2015-Fattoria-del-Colle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Toscana, agriturismo, winery

2015 a year with highs and lows: our vineyards a spectacular harvest, whereas just a few miles away the hail destroyed roofs and even cars. We feel exceptionally lucky!

The great vintages of the last thirty years such as 2010 and 2015 have great similarities: rainy winter, bad weather in the spring which disturbed the flowering and reduced the number of clusters produced, hot summer with very high temperatures in July and cooler ones in August, clear sky during the harvest.

A scheme which brings to the production of great red wines. 2015 was consequently an excellent year.

At Fattoria del Colle the vineyards are on top of the hill, 404 m above sea level. The quaternary deep soils have mostly sea sands and fragments of sandstone. The older vineyards were planted in 1996; the youngest are 10 years old. They are organically grown and the training system chosen is spurred cordon

Sangiovese-For-Chianti-Superiore-Fattoria del Colle

They are a beauty to see, because the vine are healthy, in a natural balance with the beautiful surrounding landscape, which is intact and preserved through the centuries: no factories, no intensive farming, nothing different from hundreds of years ago.

The Chianti Superiore by Donatella Cinelli Colombini is practically only Sangiovese; the addition of a few clusters of other varieties is in respect of the tradition that wants Chianti to be a mix. Its main element is consequently the gentle elegance of the Sangiovese, with that characteristic aroma of violets which characterizes this appellation.

Brunello and Brunello Prime Donne 2012 94-93-94-92

Excellent reviews regarding our Casato Prime Donne Brunello 2012 from Wine Advocate, Jancis Robinson, James Suckling and Vinous

Wine-Advocat-Robert-Parker-Brunello-Brunello-Prime-Donne-2012

The two Brunello 2012 produced by Donatella Cinelli Colombini are really liked by all and are among the best ever produced at Casato Prime Donne. This vintage, labeled a 5 star one, has divided the International press, the only sure thing is that its extreme pleasantness, which will make restaurateurs happy as already after a few moments from the uncorking of the bottle, it presents complex aromas and pleasing sensations

The two Brunello from Casato Prime Donne are born in the coolest side on the Montalcino hill, where in 2012 a great heat wave arrived. The fact that we are in a cooler area, the preparation of the soil,  and that in winter we grow beans between the rows, while in July and August we do frequent ploughings, have permitted the production of high quality Brunello.

Here below you find the ratings by Monica Larner from Wine Advocate – Robert Parker Jr and then following those of other wine critics.

Robert-Parker-Brunello-Prime-Donne-2012

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2012 PRIME DONNE 94+

Shows floral notes of pressed violet or red rose petal that distinguish it from its peers. Those delicate tones are very much in line with Sangiovese despite the hot growing season. Background notes of cassis dried plums and spice fill in the rear. A dry mineral note that recalls polished river stone or crushed granite also appears. This wine boasts a terrific bouquet that is infused with elegance and grace. The mouthfeel is polished and streamlined. The persistence is slightly shorter than 2010but this wine more than makes up for this thanks to the high quality of its aromas. Anticipated maturity 2018-2030.

Organic winery: I want the symbol back again

There are many reasons to use an organic regime in the vineyards in an environmentally friendly way, I am though doubtful about the elimination of sulfites from the cellar

orgnic-agriculture-logo

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Montalcino, Brunello, Casato Prime Donne

The main reason to cultivate a vineyard in an organic or biodynamic way is the grape growers love for his plants and his wish to see them in a perfect equilibrium. In a way a similar sentiment as for a child. To have healthy vines, able to react to the sun and to the adversities of the climate and so can give grapes of superior quality, this should be the second motive. In fact a study carried out by the prestigious  University of California Los Angeles UCLA (it has 3 Nobel Prize winners among its past students) upon a sample of 74.000 wine tasted by Wine Advocate-Robert Parker, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator revealed that the average rating on red wines made with organic and biodynamic grapes is  5,6 points higher with respect to the rest. An advantage that decreases by 1,3 points for white wines. A powerful sign that ought to be considered with attention by those who aim at producing excellent wines.

DonatellaCinelliColombini-vineyard-organic-cultivation

The reasons to choose a regime that respects nature are also dictated by the desire that one has to live in the midst of the vineyards . Without  touching the situations where there is true pollution such as those shown on the  France 2 Cash Investigation program in February 2016 in the  Bordeaux area, where the analysis carried out on kids hair revealed the absorption of prohibited and cancerous substances, there is a new awareness regarding the environment that pusher all of us to live in a healthy ambiance. Environments which have been put at risk by farming practices where chemicals are used even in a controlled manner such as the “lutte raisonnée”.

In the same way, whoever practices organic farming, realizes that it is not enough for u s to be able to deliver a natural environment to future generations, we must do more. Copper is a polluting metal, its use in the Vineyard must be diminished. It is on the other hand necessary to learn how to use mushrooms, mating disruption, increase in the predator population already present I the environment to create biological to reinforce the plants’ “immune defenses” and also turn to other natural methods like using seaweed.