2026 CASATO PRIME DONNE AWARD

2026 CASATO PRIME DONNE AWARD

ON SEPTEMBER 19^TH IN MOTALCINO: AN AWARD DEDICATED TO WOMEN SHAPING THE FUTURE-LIKE SANDRA MISALE- AS WELL AS TO THOSE WHO PROMOTE BRUNELLO AND TO YOUNG TALENTS.

 

Sandra Misale, recipient the 2026 Prima Donna award, is one of the world’s leading cancer scientists; she studies the KRAS gene, which enables tumours to replicate and metastasize. “She has a laboratory named after her at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, yet she was born in Calabria 41 years ago and completed her studies in Italy. If patients with pancreatic, lung, or colon cancer can have hope today, it is also thanks to her,” explains Donatella Cinelli Colombini, president of the award.

2026 CASATO PRIME DONNE JOURNALISM AWARDS GO TO CIANCIO AND CUOMO

The 2026 Casato Prime Donne Award ceremony will also feature two Italian journalists who have effectively promoted Montalcino and its wines: Francesca Ciancio and Andrea Cuomo.

Francesca Ciancio wins the award in the “Montalcino and I” category for her article “Montalcino Beyond Brunello,” published in “Wine and Travel”. Ciancio is a professional journalist, video maker, creator of TV and web formats, content creator for wine industry companies, sommelier, and an instructor in Wine & Food

Communication. She began her career in Naples with “traditional” journalism before moving to a major publishing group, Class Editori. From there, she transitioned toward a more contemporary style of journalism, eventually specializing in the food and wine sector online.

Her article on Montalcino demonstrates “how, alongside Brunello, there exists a mosaic of production and stories that helps define the territory’s agricultural identity.”

The Consorzio del Brunello Award, presented by President Giacomo Bartolommei, is awarded to Andrea Cuomo for his article “Brunello di Montalcino: the 2021 vintage is fragrant, defined, and vertical,” published on “IlGiornale.it”.

A native of Rome now living in Milan, Cuomo is a sommelier and a correspondent for the daily newspaper “Il Giornale”. For years, he has been chronicling the flavours he encounters. His style is concise—informative rather than evocative—and driven by a strong desire for discovery. Cuomo is drawn to the unique, ranging from Michelin-starred restaurants to picnics in Napa Valley vineyards. He demonstrates great storytelling ability, seasoned with a touch of unconventionality. In his article on Brunello, he explains the “Forma” project, which utilizes a panel of international experts to select the most fitting words to define each vintage. “The importance of Brunello to the local area is confirmed by the fact that every time a bottle of Brunello is opened in Montalcino, it generates a positive local economic impact of €117—four times the value of the bottle of wine itself.”

THIS CASATO PRIME DONNE AWARD AND SANDRA MISALE’S QUOTATION

The Casato Prime Donne Award has reached its 25th edition; its jury is chaired by Donatella Cinelli Colombini and includes Rosy Bindi, Anselma Dell’Olio, Anna Pesenti, Stefania Rossini, Anna Scafuri, and Daniela Viglione. Each year, the award selects a “Prima Donna” (Leading Woman) as an example of a new female universe.

The award is part of the Prime Donne Project, which encompasses Italy’s first wineries with an all-female staff and the Brunello Prime Donne—a wine selected by a panel of four international female tasters and dedicated to women who love wine. Finally, there is the Prime Donne trail winding through the vineyards and cellars of the Casato Prime Donne estate; along this route, visitors encounter art installations and quotations left by the award winners.

Sandra Misale’s 2026 phrase is addressed to young people: “Seek out what sparks your curiosity. Find it. Cherish the joy that comes from nurturing it, day by day. That is how the seemingly impossible becomes attainable.”

TAISIIA MAKOHN’S ARTWORK “UN ESCAMOTAGE” ACCOMPANIES SANDRA MISALE’S QUOTATION

Accompanying Sandra Misale’s quotation is a painting created by Taisiia Makohn, a Ukrainian student from the Duccio di Buoninsegna Art High School in Siena. The work captures the emotions of a refugee from a war-torn country, using the theme of “dreams”—the 2026 theme for the Casato Prime Donne Award—as a means to escape reality. Taisiia left Kyiv in March 2022 at the age of sixteen and moved to San Quirico d’Orcia in Tuscany. The young artist drew inspiration from Eugène Delacroix’s famous canvas “Liberty Leading the People”, reinterpreting it through a near-Divisionist technique and a comic-book style, while also subverting the original subject matter. Two figures occupy the centre, moving in opposite directions: in the foreground, a red-haired girl in pyjamas—clearly Taisiia herself—while behind her, a winged spirit moves the other way, creating a swirling vortex of drapery, wings, and energy. “When a dream clashes with a secretly awake consciousness, one simply wants to escape it, leave the scene, and explore the dream world—tricking the brain and putting that fantastic image… of the winged spirit of liberty—in which even she does not rationally believe—on ‘pause’.”

 

THE YOUNG TALENT INCUBATOR: MUSICIANS, GOLDSMITH-ARTISANS, PASTRY CHEFS, AND STUDENTS

The young talent incubator was established as part of the Casato Prime Donne Award following the hiatus caused by COVID-19, with the aim of providing extra encouragement to the new generation. It acts almost as an antidote to the effects of the lockdown, boosting the visibility of highly talented young people so they can become positive role models for their peers and catalysts for change in their local communities.

This year, the incubator involves nine young professionals and four students. The latter are the top-performing pupils from classes at the Lambruschini Linguistic High School and the Ricasoli Agricultural Institute in Montalcino. They will receive mini-scholarships allowing them to attend free courses on “Luxury Wine” and the “Ecological Transition.”

3 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE TOP STUDENTS AT THE CHIGIANA SUMMER ACADEMY

The Accademia Musicale Chigiana is one of the world’s ten most important centres for advanced musical training. It is housed in Palazzo Chigi Saracini in the heart of Siena, within the very rooms that display masterpieces from Italy’s third most important private art collection. Students thus enjoy the privilege of taking lessons surrounded by inspiring works of art.

The 95th edition of the Summer Academy, under the artistic direction of Nicola Sani, offers 32 courses and gives rise to the Chigiana International Festival, featuring over 100 performances by faculty and students. Within the international landscape of advanced musical education, the Chigiana Academy’s summer courses offer a truly unique experience, combining top-tier instruction with concert performances.

For the 2026 session, over 850 applications were submitted; following the selection process, 335 students from 45 different countries were accepted. Three of them will receive the Casato Prime Donne Award scholarship.

4 STUDENTS FROM LAO- LE ARTI ORAFE JEWELLERY SCHOOL IN FLORENCE

Four students from LAO – Le Arti Orafe Jewellery School in Florence were able to bring their projects to life thanks to funding from the Casato Prime Donne Award: Alessandra Di Natale (L’ingombro della realtà), Arianna Belmonte (Sognare ad occhi aperti), and Elena Bastanzio.

“Caducità” – Matilde Tambosi. The jewellery pieces bring to life the 2026 Award theme: “The dream and/is reality.

Among the young talents nurtured by the Casato Prime Donne Award incubator are goldsmiths—master artisans who draw upon a noble, ancient tradition exemplified in Tuscany by figures such as Lorenzo Ghiberti and Benvenuto Cellini. LAO (Le Arti Orafe Jewellery School) in Florence upholds the tradition of artistic apprenticeship, yet does so in a modern context, welcoming students from across the globe. Founded in Florence in 1985 by Giò Carbone, LAO is the first Italian school dedicated to both traditional and contemporary goldsmithing. Here, a piece of jewellery is viewed first as an artistic creation and only then as a precious object. For forty years, LAO has been training designers and goldsmiths, equipping them with solid technical skills, design capabilities, and a grounding in contemporary research.

This year, four artists developed pieces based on the 2026 theme: “The Dream Is/and Reality.” The jewellery was exhibited at PREZIOSA – Florence Jewellery Week.

 

ALESSANDRA PINTO FROM THE TESSIERI SCHOOL OF FINE CUISINE AND PASTRY

 

The cutting of the cake dedicated to the 2026 Prima Donna (Leading Lady), Sandra Misale, marked the conclusion of the Casato Prime Donne Award celebration at Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda.

The cake was created by the Tessieri School, one of Italy’s premier training centres for fine cuisine and pastry arts, which offers advanced training courses and master’s programs in the culinary arts. It is an “atelier” that tailors a bespoke educational path for every student, guiding them toward significant professional and personal growth; at the Tessieri School, “you learn the art of pastry-making, but that is not all. You learn to think, create, and experiment with balance and precision.”

The school was founded by Alessio Tessieri, a leading chocolate expert who has been active in the cocoa industry since 1997 as both a grower and the producer of Noalya—one of the world’s finest chocolates. The concept behind the Tessieri School stems from a desire to create a centre of educational excellence capable of imparting not only knowledge but also the passion and curiosity essential to the contemporary world of food and wine.

Creating the cake for Sandra Misale involved Alessandra Pinto—a 20-year-old student born in Bagno a Ripoli (Florence)—working alongside two pastry chef instructors: Francesca Benedettelli and Fabio Centoni.

 

WHO IS SANDRA MISALE?

Originally from Palmi on the Calabrian coast, Sandra Misale earned a degree in molecular biotechnology in Turin and subsequently worked at some of the world’s leading cancer research centres, including Harvard Medical School in Boston and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. She is currently at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where she runs her own laboratory, the Misale Lab.

From the very beginning, she focused on a project that seemed impossible: blocking mutations in the KRAS gene, which drives tumour cells to reproduce and metastasize. It appeared to be a career-ruining move, as—until 13 years ago—no one had managed to target the KRAS mutations found in approximately 30% of human cancers, particularly the most aggressive types: pancreatic, lung, and colon cancer. Yet, discoveries and results came quickly; new drugs developed with her contribution now double the life expectancy of pancreatic cancer patients. “My team’s work and mine have shed light on fundamental aspects of how these new drugs function—to the point of altering clinical trials,” explains Sandra Misale. “Our research has made it possible to understand how to make these new therapies work better and for longer.”

At the heart of rapid scientific progress lies sharing—specifically, the interconnection of various research centres—which is revolutionizing the old “lone discoverer” model. “A drive to excel is fine,” notes Misale, “but collaborating and helping—whenever and however much possible—can take us much further in terms of results.” It is an open, generous, and responsible approach to research that prioritizes the interests of patients over personal ambition.

 

“Prime Donne” Award Winners

2026 Sandra Misale – Scientist (cancer research)

2025 Darya Majidi – Advocate for women’s use of AI

2024 Maria Canabal – Parabere Forum

2022 Elena Testi – Correspondent/Reporter

2019 Alessandra Paola Ghisleri – Pollster and political scientist

2018 Sara Gama – Footballer

2017 Federica Bertocchini – Molecular biologist

2016 Chaimaa Fatihi – Peace activist

2015 Giuseppina Maria Nicolini – Mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa

2014 Sandra Savaglio – Astrophysicist

2013 Linda Laura Sabbadini – Director of the Social and Environmental Statistics Department at ISTAT

2012 Maria Carmela Lanzetta – Mayor of Monasterace

2011 Carla Fendi – Fashion designer and cultural patron

2010 Samantha Cristoforetti – Astronaut

2009 Ilaria Capua – Virologist

2008 Josefa Idem – Athlete

2007 Frances Mayes – Writer

2006 Volunteers of Telefono Rosa

2005 Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

2004 Kerry Kennedy – Human rights activist

2003 Carla Fracci – Prima ballerina (Étoile)

2002 Marta Morazzoni – Writer

2001 Paola Capriolo – Writer

2000 Francesca Sanvitale – Writer