NEW LOOK FOR THE CASATO PRIME DONNE WINE SHOP
The Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino has renovated its Tuscan-style store, made by Tuscan artisans and designed by Tuscan Lorella Salvi
The wine shop changes look
Faithful to her principles, Donatella Cinelli Colombini wanted the Casato Prime Donne to speak the area in which it is located. She hates “non-places”, i.e. environments that could be anywhere in the world and do not tell their own story. So, when she realized that her cellar store needed a restoration, she called Lorella Salvi from the OMIF company in Siena and asked her to <<reorganize this space for me using the style of the place, the local materials and the craftsmen of this area>>.
THE CASATO PRIME DONNE STORE
Lorella smiled but understood. She has been collaborating with Donatella for many years and designed the 3 stores for her: Tuscany Lovers in Siena, Bagno Vignoni and Cortona. For the Casato Prime Donne she therefore designed an environment of very Tuscan austere elegance: wooden shelves with pilasters and frames that recall the old pharmacies of the region, Carrara marble top as in the taverns and three ancient terracotta jars (obviously Tuscan) to support the counter and the glass surface on which to prepare the tastings. Some choices have been controversial such as those regarding the marble, which <<gets stained but when stained it becomes more seasoned and more real>>.
The overall effect is that of furniture “that has always been there” perfectly integrated with a stone farmhouse built over four hundred years ago. Above the wine shelves there are some ancient agricultural tools interspersed with ceramic panels that explain the origin of the name Montalcino from the Latin words Mons and Ilex which
wooden shelf, Casato Prime Donne
became Mons ilicini that is mount of holm oaks (cuercus ilex). The holm oak is the dominant essence in the woods of the Brunello area and was the main economic resource of the inhabitants until the eighteenth century. It was used to produce ceramics and to tan leather thanks to its tannin-rich bark.
WHO IS LORELLA SALVI
Originally from San Gimignano, she has lived in Siena for twenty years. She attended the art institute – now the art college in Siena, specializing in ceramics. After graduation, failing to work in this branch, she entered a furniture company. At the age of 22, Lorella Salvi’s career in interior renovation and design began. Her passion has always been to draw, and she discovered in the profession of interior designer a way to express her artistic talent. After having worked for various furniture companies, she chose OMIF in Monteriggioni which creates, with artisan care, custom-made furniture for food & beverage premises and commercial premises in general.
THE CASATO PRIME DONNE WINERY IN MONTALCINO
<<The Casato farm already belonged to my ancestors in 1592>> says Donatella Cinelli Colombini <<over the centuries they resided there to go hunting and to take brides there on their honeymoon. Today the property seem close to the town of Montalcino in a northerly direction, towards Siena, but at that time it must have seemed isolated and close to the woods, so the young wives lived the experience as a sort of initiation rite. More recently the Casato was inherited by my grandmother Giuliana, then by my mother Francesca and after me it will go to my daughter Violante with a female succession that already suggests the new name with which I baptized it when I received it as a gift in 1998: “Casato Prime Donne”>>. A special place for a special project because Donatella’s Montalcino winery is the first in Italy with a workforce of only women and has demonstrated female talent in wine, arriving, in just twenty years, to export to 41 countries around the world and to produce 10 wines with international ratings above 90/100. In such a special place, the new shop furniture is a final, refined touch.