WINE TOURISM DOES NOT REGARD ONLY WINE

WINE TOURISM DOES NOT REGARD ONLY WINE

LANDSCAPES, SPORTS, MONUMENTS AND CITIES OF ART, TYPICAL GASTRONOMY AND OF COURSE WINERIES WITH THE HOPE OF PARTICIPATING IN EXPERIENCES DIFFERENT FROM ALL THOSE HAD BEFORE

We have always known that wine is not enough to generate wine tourism flows. We need a suggestive landscape, typical gastronomy and the presence of people with whom we can establish a relationship. More recently, with the exponential increase in tourist wineries (25,000), the most critical element is the proposal of experiences that are too similar to each other. In 96% of wineries, visitors visit the vat room and barrel room with an explanation of the production process followed by a tasting. It is only the size and importance of the latter that varies. This is why Roberta Garibaldi tells us that 66% of visitors think that the experiences in the cellar are all similar and there is a real risk that they will get bored.

But offering different experiences capable of teaching while having fun is possible, Donatella Cinelli Colombini shows us how.

TAILORED EXPERIENCES FOR EVERY TYPE OF WINE TOURIST

Identity, authenticity and diversity are the three key words. Donatella Cinelli Colombini invites you to her wineries at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in the Orcia DOC region to participate in unique and memorable experiences designed for different visitor targets. In Montalcino it is possible to have an itinerant wine and music tasting with 4 stops paired with different wines and different music – from Monteverdi to Frank Zappa. It was studied by the musician sommelier Igor Vazzaz. In the vat room there are images and sounds that tell the traditions of Montalcino including the Trescone that tourists learn to dance. Inside the cellar there are panels that tell the story of Montalcino while outside there are works of art with which to take selfies.

The latest arrival is a pop panel designed by Luigi Corbini which literally plays with women and wine, eras and colours. The wine tasting includes bottles normally on the market, barrel tastings, exclusive series and important Brunello Riserva.

Visiting the Casato Prime Donne winery means understanding that Brunello is nature, tradition but above all culture. Everything but not banality and it offers unique experiences and emotions

 

WINE TOURISM IN CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO AND FATTORIA DEL COLLE IN THE ORCIA DOC WINE REGION

The Fattoria del Colle is a small hamlet built in 1592 and overlooking breathtaking views of the Valdorcia and the Crete Senesi. In this case too, be prepared for some surprises. The tour of the winery includes the room that “teaches you how to listen to the vineyards”, the historic cellar with the infernotto which contains the antique bottles of Brunello, the vinsantaia, the barrel room and the new orciaia made from two early twentieth century concrete vats to house the ancient terracotta jars where the extra virgin olive oil will be placed.

Furthermore , the tour is focused on the history of the place and has its highlight in the visit to the villa where Donatella Cinelli Colombini still lives today. It’s not a museum but it looks a lot like one. For wine lovers there is the possibility of producing their own Super Tuscan by becoming oenologists for a day and trying their hand at the blend of three single-varietal wines from the same year. The wine tastings are accompanied by local cheeses and cold cuts of absolute excellence, in some cases super award-winning.

WINE LESSONS

For those who wish there is even a mini-course on Sangiovese at Fattoria del Colle and an exclusive tasting with Donatella and her super selections of Brunello at Casato Prime Donne. But the differences don’t end here. Local dishes taken from the two recipe books that Donatella Cinelli Colombini wrote interviewing the elderly housewives are also served at the Fattoria’s restaurant. Here is the condito, picchio pacchio, , the pinci with aglione garlic sauce, the goose ragu, the meat dishes based on Chianina and Cinta senese. Chef Doriana and Maître Alfredo are both AIS Sommeliers and take care of the pairing with the wines very carefully.

Even in the apartments and rooms for tourist use, Donatella wanted however to respect the territory: she sold the industrial furniture and bought small antiques <<I want tourists to feel like they are in the home of their “Tuscan grandparents”>>. Obviously, her choice, super traditionalist, pleases many but not all <<there are also those who want environments with heavy restorations and modern furnishings, but those can be found everywhere!>>.

Choices that also concern the natural wellness area with bathing in wine and the cooking school where the tutor Helle Poulsen Tesio is Danish but has written 16 books on Italian cuisine and has a house in Trequanda. Outside there is a photographic safari and 3 treks marked by signs that teach about the vines, animals and plants.

WINE TOURISM- THE IMPORTANCE OF COMBINING ART, BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPES AND TYPICAL GASTRONOMY TO THE WINERIES

It is very clear that the tourist offer is based on strong beliefs <<we are Tuscan winemakers and we are proud of it>> and benefits from an area full of small cities of art: Pienza and Monticchiello, San Quirico and Bagno Vignoni, Castiglioni d’Orcia and the white whale, Montalcino and San Giovanni d’Asso with the Truffle Museum, Montepulciano, pearl of the sixteenth century… Even in Trequanda there are things to see such as the medieval church dedicated to Saints Peter and Andrew with a triptych by Giovanni di Paolo.

In the hamlet of Castelmuzio, a “ living room village”, there is the best manufacturer of concert harpsichords in the world. In the hamlet of Petroio the terracotta museum which celebrates the ceramic production activity born in the Renaissance. Every small town has something to discover like Asciano with Raphael’s first work and the Coboli museum which “The Telegraph” has placed among the best 15 small museums in Italy. Or Torrita with the bas-relief of the Baptism of Christ by Donatello….

SPORT AND SHOPPING

Then there are sporting activities such as the Eroica Montalcino cycling circuit and the routes with environmental guides which, under Bagno Vignoni, enter the park of the mills, an incredible production site that remained in operation until the twentieth century.

For shopping for food products, tasting at restaurants and visiting production laboratories, you are spoiled for choice, there are even farms of Chianina cattle with adult males as big as elephants. This is true wine tourism suitable for explorers in search of discoveries. I shall close with another jewel: in Siena, Bagno Vignoni and Cortona there are Toscana Lovers shops. Thes sell everyday handcrafted objects, such as knives from Scarperia, dinner sets from Montelupo or soap made with bronze moulds.

Therefore, this is what Donatella Cinelli Colombini means by local wine tourism offer.