brunello Tag

30 June 2021

95 points for Brunello Riserva 2015 from Insider Wine Spectator

94 for the Brunello 2016 and the Brunello Prime Donne 2016 excellent ratings from Wine Spectator for two extraordinary vintages from Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino

94-Wine-Spectator-Brunello-2016-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

It’s always nice to read good reviews about your wines from super experts and when the label is in the Wine Spectator Insider it’s a real joy. This time it was the Brunello Riserva 2015 with a nice score of 95. Brunello 2016 and Brunello Prime Donne 2016 are on the inside pages of Wine Spectator, both with an excellent 94.

Brunello 2015 Riserva 95/100 WS, Brunello and Brunello Prime Donne 2016 94/100 WS

My choices in harvest, vinification and barrel ageing are based on the search for the purest original characteristics of Brunello. My Brunello is elegant not opulent. It is a current interpretation of Montalcino’s terroir although inspired by the Brunello of our grandparents.

94-Wine-Spectator-Brunello-2016-Prime-Donne-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

There are those who fall in love with it and those who prefer a more muscular Brunello. That’s why I wait for the judgments of the US wine critics with great trepidation. Thankfully for vintages like 2015 and 2016 all agree. Tom Hyland (Italian wine report) who lives in Chicago but has been writing about Italian wines for over 20 years, and is considered among the best ambassadors of our oenology in the USA, has also given 93 to my Brunello 2016.

Brunello 2015 and 2016 two vintages liked by all

Both Hyland and Bruce Sanderson, who tastes for Wine Spectator, recommend drinking my Brunello in ten years time and beyond. The advice is right, these are fine vintages suitable for long aging but, in my opinion, they are very satisfying even now. Indeed, this is precisely the secret of the success of the Sangiovese from Montalcino: it is like a handsome young man who knows how to age and become classier.
These are the Wine Spectator ratings according to Bruce Sanderson:

24 June 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Cenerentola wine underground cellar

Tuscan party for the inauguration of the winery of the Fattoria del Colle, almost a palace for Cenerentola wine that becomes princess of Doc Orcia

On June 26^th, Donatella Cinelli Colombini will inaugurate the expansion and restoration of the Fattoria del Colle winery with the blessing of Bishop Stefano Manetti and a “déjeuner sur l’herbe”, for 150 people. Typical Valdorcian dishes will be served accompanied by Brunello, Orcia Doc, Chianti Superiore and Supertuscans. A country party according to the great Tuscan tradition to celebrate the conclusion of a project that allows to increase the quality of wines and transforms the Fattoria del Colle into a wine destination capable of attracting enthusiasts and offering them unforgettable experiences and tastings.

CENERENTOLA WINE UNDERGROUND CELLAR

The main creation is a large underground area intended for the refinement of bottled wines for which 3,366 mc of earth and rock (231 hours of jackhammer by the Edilpellegrini Company) have been moved. The project by architect Silvia Nucci, from the Studio Luigi Rocchi,included a single large room of 450m2 for the aging of bottled wine.

Here the temperature must remain at constant 16°C while in the area for sparkling wine it drops to 12°C. It is in this area, separated by panels, that the pupitres have been placed for the manual remuage of the brut rosé classic method obtained from Sangiovese grapes.

Cenerentola-wine-underground-cellar-Fattoria-del-Colle-Tuscany

A WINTER OAK WOOD TRANSFORMED INTO A CORTEN SILHOUETTE

Outside Donatella Cinelli Colombini asked the designers and artisans who worked at the construction site – all local -, to be inspired by what they saw around them. Donatella is in fact a strong opposer of the “non-places” that take away identity from the territories. From this request and from the long months of lockdown, which have confined everyone around the house, the idea was born to reproduce in metal the oak woods near the Fattoria del Colle.

In winter the noblest trees of the Mediterranean scrub, become a lace of bare branches that rise to the sky. The young architect Elisa Boldi (Coima) designed them as silhouettes and cut them with laser on iron slabs making them then get rusty so that they had the same colour as the trees. Finally, the corten forest has been put, for 50 meters, around the new cellar and delimits the panoramic terrace above.

The silhouettes of the oaks allowed the designer Silvia Nucci to create continuity between the new building and the pre-existing part with the fermentation room, the bottling area and a farmhouse built about a century ago. In this last building the immersive room has been built, with the antique bottle library and a system of images, sounds and lights that teaches wine lovers to “listen to the vineyards”.

28 April 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Brunello 2001 and 2004 retrospective tasting: just like with films

Two articles that help us enjoy the Brunello 2001 and 2004 guided by Eric Guido from Vinous and Monty Waldin from Decanter and the ratings are very high

Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne 2013 – Donatella Cinelli Colombini

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Two articles and two tastings to understand the evolution of Brunello, from a wine conceived to defy time to a wine that must associate longevity and youthful pleasantness. This is the passage from “Biondi Santi philosophy” to the new style in a large number of Montalcino producers.

THE TWENTIETH YEAR IS THE REVEALING ONE REGARDING LONGEVITY

Eric Guido, a super taster of Italian wines for Vinous, has tasted the Brunello 2001 explaining the reason behind such a choice <<So why twenty years? Why not ten or thirty? Because, in my opinion, it is the twenty-year mark that proves the potential of a Brunello vintage. At ten years, a classically structured vintage is still in its adolescent stages (think 2010). At thirty years, only the best wines will still be drinking well (think 1990). However, at twenty years, you can assess from a broad range of producers if the vintage is ready to drink now, drink soon, or continue to stash away in your cellar>>.

HOW THE BRUNELLO PHILISOPHY HAS CHANGED DURING THE LAST 20 YEARS

As has happened to me, during the last 20 years, many producers from Montalcino have gone through a great evolution. They have returned to a stronger rapport with the vineyard and to the use of larger barrels. The producers who had maintained a more traditional style even when the critics rewarded the Brunello aged in barriques and coming from vineyards in the warmer parts of Montalcino have been at an advantage.

22 April 2021

in Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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DOPOBARBA DELLA TITA FROM FARMACIA SALVIONI

Two stories from Montalcino, one about the Farmacia Salvioni that starts in 1499 and one about La Tita that tells of post war times, first in UK and then in the Brunello gardens, and a dedicated aftershave, il dopobarba della Tita

Roberto and Fabio Salvioni in their pharmacy in Montalcino

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

What binds theses two stories that tell of the true spirit of the Brunello town, is the Dopobarba della Tita (Tita’s aftershave) that the Farmacia Salvioni has created among its cosmetic production range, as it has been done for centuries in the old dispensaries, to dedicate it to their most faithful client.

It seems like something normal but instead the story contains an old and noble tale.

THE FARMACIA SALVIONI AND ITS HISTORY SINCE 1499

The Farmacia Salvioni is in the old market square in Montalcino next to the Loggia, where vases, copper objects, vegetables, chicken and grains were sold.

Farmacia Salvioni in Montalcino: Dopobarba della Tita (Tita’s aftershave)

In 1499 in those 4 rooms used still today, Paolo Dei and Giacomo Marzuoli <<ilcinenses aromatarios in civitate ilcinea>>, were apothecaries, in other words pharmacists.

At the beginning of the 17th century the dispensary in the square changes hands it goes from the Tinelli family to the Angelini family and is active in the production of therapeutic preparations and of spices to cook with: pepper, almonds, isinglass … but also cakes such as pan pepato, copate and biricoccoli.

At the beginning of the 18th century the pharmacy changes hands several times until it is donated to the Ospedale di S. Maria della Croce who entrusts it to the young pharmacist Clemente Santi who later became the owner. The beautiful bronze mortar dated 1751 and with the coat of arms of S. Maria della Croce, still today proudly on show comes from that period.

In 1814 in the pharmacy we find his grandson, he too called Clemente Santi, with a degree in pharmacy from the University of Pisa where Giorgio Santi teaches natural history and has a fantastic reputation. Clemente was intellectual, very dynamic and with historic-artistic interests as well as agricultural ones, corresponds with the Accademia dei Georgofili, collaborates with the Giornale Agrario Toscano and can be considered one of the “founders” of the Brunello wine and of the Biondi Santi family.

1 March 2021

in Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Gabriele Gorelli the first Italian Master of Wine

He is from Montalcino a polyglot, kind, intelligent, a great worker and communicator, he knows and understands wine … the first Italian Master of Wine Gabriele Gorelli

Brookshow and Gorelli Brunello nel cuore book

Brookshow – Gabriele Gorelli, Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Fabrizio Bindocci: book “Brunello nel cuore”

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Upon receiving the message of congratulations from Violante and me he replies <<Dear friends, I know you have always believed strongly in me. This encourages me and makes me proud of the Tuscan and Italian entrepreneurial structure. It has been difficult, very difficult. I still cannot believe it … Thank you so much , G.>> Just a few words that transmit the great tension, still not assimilated, with respect to a trail that has been demanding more than expected and the subsequent great emotion. Practically under shock, for the success, chased for 5 years and that all of Italy has been waiting for, for at least thirty.

ITALIAN WINE EXPERTS WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY IN ESTABLISHING THEMSELVES BY REMAINING IN THEIR HOMELAND

It really seemed like a running joke, among the 418 Master of Wine there were wine experts from 32 nations but nobody from Italy. Practically a stamp of our wine provincialism manifested far too often: let us remember the embarrassing occasion of the tem contest for sommeliers on October 12th 2019 at the Castle of Chambord in France, where our team were last out of 27 nations taking part. Two times in a row this happened.

Benvenuto Brunello: the ceremony behind the scenes with Gabriele Gorelli

Our wine experts are technically very strong and when they go abroad they are like fireworks. Think of Matteo Montone, from Milan living in London who won the title of Best Young Sommelier in the World in 2019 and, last summer became part of the Court of Master Sommelier. In this association too there are 267 members from all over the world, only two are Italians, both work abroad though.
The most sensational case however is Paolo Basso who won the title of Best Sommelier in the World ASI in 2013 competing for Switzerland.
Gabriele Gorelli seems to defeat this cliché of provincial Italians in their homeland able to bloom only abroad. In fact Gabriele is a young DOCG born and bred among the Brunello vineyards, his grandfather had a small piece of land, and he has never changed is residency.

31 December 2020

in Farm experiences

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Happy New Year 2021

Let’s say goodbye to a difficult 2020 and toast to 2021 with the new Brunello, wishing peace and goodwill to everyone for a splendid new year

Violante and Enrico’s Wedding – the most beautiful 2020 memory

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

We need s good luck toast, and there is nothing better than the Brunello 2016 Prime Donne. As all wine lovers know Brunello becomes Brunello legally only at midnight of its last year. This time the new vintage to be realized has been anticipated by drum rolls and the great international wine critics have given it extraordinary ratings already before it gets released. So other than the character of the wine that brings good fortune, this time we are in admiration of a Brunello than can hopefully rid us of the dark shadow of Covid and allow us to have faith in a new year full hope.
So I will toast with Brunello Prime Donne 2016 wishing everyone health and happiness in the New Year.

THE END OF 2020 THE COVID YEAR

2020 is ending and it is time for considerations: except for my brother who was fortunately asymptomatic, none of us got covid19 in the family and on the estate.

2020 new staff of Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s wineries with 3 winemakers: Giada, Barbara and Sabrina

The province of Siena has been one of the least hit by the pandemic but to protect ourselves we really have done our upmost; face masks, disinfectant gels , dry sanitizing guns, ozone instruments … rooms for quarantining pillows for the beds …. Plexiglas panels, shifts in the offices …. We even sent away a tourist who was suspected of having the virus….
In the vineyards the work went ahead as usual, where the harvest was scarce in quantity but very high in quality. We are expecting 5 star rating for the vintage. The olive harvest on the other hand was very abundant in quantity and quality. White truffles unfortunately were very rare.

THE FINAL BALANCE OF 2020: WINE WENT WELL, TOURISM NOT SO GOOD

Wine sales went well thanks to the foreign markets that have bought and bought again an excellent Brunello 2015.He has been our champion that has conquered Covid. Wine sales in Italy and direct sales from the wineries have greatly decreased but thanks to less costs (no Prowein and Vinitaly, no trips abroad, no yearly edition of the Casato Prime Donne award …) the final economic balance of the agricultural estate is positive.

Less so the country inn hospitality and restaurant aspects at Fattoria del Colle that worked only from halfway through July to mid October losing all foreign weddings and 70% of the normal income. Even more disastrous was the situation in the three ToscanaLovers stores, the Cortona shop practically with nil income and the other two with earnings for 2020 of about one fifth compared to usual.

29 December 2020

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Just for you Brunello 2016 and Brunello Riserva 2015 previews

A chance not to be missed to be among the first to receive Brunello 2016 and the Brunello Riserva 2015 directly at home to begin a new wine- loving new year

Offer Brunello 2016 Preview and Brunello Riserva 2015 – Casato Prime Donne – Montalcino

Once you have received the wine at home you will also be able to taste the two Brunello online with Donatella Cinelli Colombini. The date will be sent out as soon as the wine will have been delivered. It will be a very exclusive appointment during a weekend.

As you know Brunello becomes legally Brunello and can be consumed only after midnight at the end of its 5^th year. So what we are proposing now are not yet Brunello and Brunello Riserva, they will become so on January 1st 2021 and you shall be among the first to taste them and share them with your friends. The will be delivered to your home with the vacuum stopper that keeps the wine till the next day.

Brunello brings god luck and it will make you begin 2021 like a true wine lover!

Happy New Year !!!!!

Obviously some wine critics have just recently tasted the wines and have given excellent reviews.

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2016 RATINGS

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate 95

Vinous Antonio Galloni 93

James Suckling 94

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA 2015 RATINGS

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate 94

Vinous Antonio Galloni 94

James Suckling 93

OFFER FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

3 bottles of Brunello di Montalcino 2016 and 3 bottles of Brunello Riserva 2015 + a vacuum stopper

Donatella Cinelli Colombini waiting the Brunello lovers for a wine tasting together

Price 329 Euro (instead of 367 Euro) until January 5th, 2021

For those who wish to double their offer to 6 bottles of Brunello 2016 and 6 bottles of Brunello Riserva 2015

Preice of 618 Euro (instead of 724 Euro) until January 5th, 2021

FREE SHIPPING IN ITALY AND A 20,00 Euro DISCOUNT ABROAD

OFFER FOR THOSE NOT YET MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

3 bottles of Brunello di Montalcino 2016 and 3 bottles of Brunello Riserva 2015 + a vacuum stopper

Price 341 Euro (instead of 367 Euro) until January 5th, 2021

For those who wish to double their offer to 6 bottles of Brunello 2016 and 6 bottles of Brunello Riserva 2015

Price 646 Euro (instead of 724 Euro) until January 5th, 2021

FREE SHIPPING IN ITALY AND A 20,00 Euro DISCOUNT ABROAD

For Italy the price includes shipping, for those ordering from abroad there is a 20,00 euro discount on transportation costs. Costs for shipping abroad vary from nation to nation and will be quote upon receipt of the order. We have very convenient prices for shipping to US, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia.

14 October 2020

in Farm experiences

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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WHITE TRUFFLE WEEKEND IN TUSCANY

We shall be waiting for you at Fattoria del Colle to hunt for, to cook and to taste the white Crete Senesi truffle during All Saints weekend

White-Crete-Senesi-truffle-weekend-to-hunt-for-and-to-taste-it

From Friday October 30th to Sunday November 1st, three days (two nights) during the foliage, white truffle and extra virgin olive oil period in Tuscany where Brunello and other fine red wines are made. To stay at Fattoria del Colle amidst the vineyards, to dine with local traditional dishes, to hunt for truffles with truffle hunters and their dogs and then learn how to prepare them. As well as visiting the vineyards and (partially) the wineries, taste the fine red wines and finally dine with the truffles, so aromatic and maybe even a little aphrodisiacal!

WHITE TRUFFLE WEEKEND PROPOSAL AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

2 nights in double bedroom with bathroom at Fattoria del Colle
White-truffle-hunt-at-Fattoria-del-Colle
2 breakfasts with cold cuts, cheeses and traditional cakes, coffee, milk, juices and yogurt
Hunting with truffle hunters and their dogs
Brief cookery lesson on truffles with the Fattoria del Colle chef Doriana Marchi
Guided tour of the vineyards and partial tour of the Brunello winery Casato Prime Donne with an informal wine tasting
Guided tour of Fattoria del Colle with itinerant tasting of three wines

THE BEAUTY OF AUTUMN IN THE TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE

Autumn is the foliage moment, when the vineyards and the woods change colour transforming the Valdorcia and the Crete Senesi into a fairytale scenario: This is maybe the moment that the countryside is at its best. Ideal for hiking and for photography safaris, regenerating the body and mind.

The pleasures of the table are also of high level in autumn, because long evenings allow us to slowly enjoy the most gluttonous pleasures .Fattoria del Colle is in fact in the area of the Crete Senesi where the white truffle comes from as well as where one of the best Tuscan extra virgin olive oils is made. Last but not least: fine red wines: Brunello coming from the Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino that belongs to the same owner, Chianti Superiore and the Doc Orcia produced from the vineyards around the estate.

1 October 2020

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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2020 Grape harvest is heading towards another 5-star double-win

2019 and 2020 grape harvest, like identical twins, but different: both worthy of the highest rating but also to be understood in their diversity like 2015 – 2016

Brunello-2020-Grape-Harvest-Casato-Prime-Donne-the-two-young-winemakers-Giada-and-Sabrina

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

It is always difficult to shine next to a great star: it will be difficult for those running 100 meters after Usain Bolt, it has been difficult for all mathematicians after Albert Einstein and it is difficult for all entrepreneurs comparing with Jeff Bezos from Amazon.

It will be the same for the 2020 vintage. It cannot shine after a masterpiece of a vintage like 2019 even though it is one of the best vintages picked during the last 20 years, without doubt worthy of the 5 stars given to the best vintages in Montalcino.

THE 2020 COVID GRAPE HARVEST

Let’s go in order, by telling you in detail the harvest in the Covid year. The first with facemasks and the necessity to keep at a distance however had had contact, even indirectly with those found positive. It has been terrible to say to two grape pickers to because their kids class was in quarantine <<go home and you can’t come back until you have a negative swab>> and it has been difficult to say to our consultant wine maker Valérie Lavigne << if you cannot have a swab done before leaving France you must renounce in coming>>. The risk of contagion has created as lot of worry, many problems and however a much less joyous atmosphere than usual.

CLIMATE: 2020 GRAPE HARVEST FROM VERY DRY TO VERY RAINY

2020-Grape-Harvest-Montalcino-Casato-Prime-Donne-Violante-and-Enrico

There has been a frost during the budding (18-23) at the end of March. To begin with the vineyards seemed unharmed but then we saw that the grapes were decidedly less than usual.
The winter has been very mild and dry. In spring we underwent an attack of powdery mildew in the Fattoria del Colle vineyards and the tractor drivers had to get up really early to spray the vineyards with sulphur before dawn.

In June finally the rainfalls arrived, a really rainy month. The torrid summer began halfway through July and lasted until halfway through September practically without rain except for a nice rainfall at the end of August. Luckily the difference in day and night temperatures has always been great.
The veraison took place at the end of July and the last phase of the grape ripening took place in the heat, especially in September when the daytime temperatures stayed over 32°C. The vineyards were not de-leafed so as to protect the grapes from the sun that did however do some harm.
The problem has been that the rainfall arrived exactly during harvest time and the constant risk of rain forced the grape pickers to an accelerated job, with great anxiety and an occasional prayer.

7 September 2020

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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CHRONICLE 2020 IN BRUNELLO VINEYARDS AND WINERIES

In the year of Corona virus the vineyards in 2020 are the only ones who have had an easy year: cosseted regardless the lockdown, never like this year the final objective was a low yield

invaiatura-sangiovese-2020-Violante-Cinellicolombini

Sangiovese vineyards in 2020 veraison – Violante – Cinelli Colombini

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

In the confusion of the first days of lockdown, while all Italians were shut in their homes, my grape growers continued to go into the vineyards armed with written authorization for travelling by car, and with the first masks on their face. To complicate things, around March 20^th, while the vines were just budding, a frost arrived that burned the young leaves. Not a tragedy we all know that we have to hope for a low yield year because Covid-19 will devastate the markets. Such devastations arrived, even worse than we imagined. For this reason I decide to abandon 4 vineyards in 2020 for a total of 8 hectares. On these areas, which obviously I consider of less quality, we will only do the bare minimum.

SPRING FROST AND SPONTANEOUS REDUCTION IN GRAPE PRODUCTION

So I precede the decisions of the Minister Bellanova regarding the green harvesting.
The 2019-2020 winter was very mild and dry. During lockdown at Fattoria del Colle that was deserted, my husband Carlo and I console ourselves sunbathing at lunch time. Flowering of the vines happened between the end of May (in Montalcino) and the beginning of June (at Fattoria del Colle).

DRY AND MILD WINTER, RAINY JUNE, TORRID JULY

Germoglio-20 marzo-2020-Fattoria-del-Colle

Before the budding – March 15th, 2020 – Fattoria del Colle

In June after several “drought” months the rainfall finally arrives, allowing us some relief, because regardless of Covid-19 we had succeeded in planting a new vineyard at Casato Prime Donne. If it hadn’t rained we would have had to irrigate it.
But rain has also its negative sides: there are mildew attacks and the grape growers start a real battle to defend the vineyards. To stop the white mold, in an organic winery like ours we had to work during the night and interrupt the sulphur sprays as soon as the sun. Quite an endeavour for the tractor drivers and a disturbance for the first tourists arrived at Fattoria del Colle for a rest after months of quarantine at home. Shame but the vines come before everything else. Decidedly in the vineyards in 2020 the year has been a complicated one for several reasons.

18 August 2020

in Farm experiences

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Full experience Grape Harvest in Tuscany

For the last two weekends in September and the first two of October at Fattoria del Colle a Brunello, Chianti and Orcia experience

Grape Harvest experience – Fattoria del Colle – Tuscany

From Friday evening until Sunday to see how fine red wines from Tuscany are born, touching the vines, the grape clusters, and seeing the various phases of the vinification but mostly tasting must, wines, and Reserves … so as to understand the evolution of Bacchus’s nectar with the help of great experts. Three journalists will tell the history of Tuscan wine and the specificities in the production of Tuscan wines and of Sangiovese. A chance not to be missed for wine lovers, where they can stay in peace in the vast spaces of the countryside and in the healthy ambiance of the BIO (organic) vineyards.

FULL EXPERIENCE GRAPE HARVEST WITH BRUNELLO CHIANTI AND ORCIA

Grape harvest experience – Fattoria del Colle – Tuscany

18-20, 25-27 September, 2-4, 9-11 October with a program that includes visits, wine tastings, direct experiences and an in -sight lesson with a super expert.

The frame for these weekends full of experiences and emotions is Fattoria del Colle, 2 and a half hours from Rome and Bologna, one hour from Florence and Perugia.

18 km from the A1 exit Valdichiana-Bettolle.

Fattoria del Colle is a small rural hamlet from the end of the 16th century. There is a villa, a chapel and the old farmers’ houses that have now become lodgings for guests, furnished with antiques and with modern comfort.

GRAPE HARVEST EXPERIENCE PROGRAM

The 2020 full-experience harvest weekend program includes participation to different phases of the grape picking and the vinification with a tasting of the new must, plus the guided tour of the vineyards with a tasting of the grapes. The tour of the wineries in Montalcino (Casato Prime Donne) and in Chianti-Doc Orcia with a Vertical tasting of Brunello and Orcia, an in-sight lesson regarding Sangiovese and the wines from Tuscany with an experience called “winemaker for a day” where each participant produces their own Supertuscan.

For information and bookings please click on the link cinellicolombini.it or call the nember: +39 0577 662108.

28 July 2020

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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The vengeance of Brunello 2014

Considered a lesser vintage the 2014 Brunello di Montalcino offers pleasure to those who drink it. This is an important benefit as explained by Andrew Jefford in Decanter

Andrew Jefford, Decanter about Brunello di Montalcino 2014

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Life as a wine producer is full of surprises: the article in Decanter is dedicated to the hedonistic pleasure of enjoying wine, rewards our Brunello 2014 and fills us with joy.

The wines born in weaker vintages are like “Children of a lesser God”, to discover their beauty it is necessary to overcome the clichés. This is what has happened to the Brunello 2014, product of a rainy and cool year that forced us to choose the clusters and o produced just a third of our normal production. Consequently in this vintage we used for Brunello what usually goes into our selection and the Riserva, the grapes from our TOP vineyards, that never fail, whatever the climate.

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2014, GOOD RATINGS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Brunello 2014 – Donatella Cinelli Colombini – Casato Prime Donne – Montalcino

The specialized international press reports were favourable: 91/100 from Robert Parker -Wine Advocate and Wine Enthusiast, 90/100 from Wine Spectator. The market had appreciated this pleasant to drink and “carefree” Brunello, as Monica Larner called it.
However nobody let out a “cry of joy” before this article by Andrew Jefford, Decanter contributing editor and multiple award-winning author, published in the most important UK wine magazine and among the most authoritative and influential in the world.

21 July 2020

in Farm experiences

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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CAFFE’ IN FORCHETTA, A MONTALCINO DESSERT

This is a delicious dessert born at the beginning of the 20th century in Montalcino. It is called “caffè in forchetta” (coffee with a fork) but, in truth, it is eaten with a spoon

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

It is a Liberty-style dessert, an era when cafés became an important place in social life. In Montalcino, like in Venice or Turin, the local public places in the centre were re-qualified and enriched with velvet and mirrors so as to be able to welcome the bourgeois clients. These in Montalcino, the city of Brunello, comprised those who were noble, academics, business men, landowners and even a few artists.

CAFFE’ IN FORCHETTA IN MONTALCINO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20th CENTURY

Caffè in forchetta of Montalcino Tuscany Fattoria del Colle

Montalcino has always, in fact, had a diversified social structure, cultured and open minded. Regardless of this liveliness the lifestyle of the women was controlled and certainly not as casual as in Paris. In particular, women were criticized if they drank coffee, it was considered too audacious. For this reason a cream caramel was invented where to the milk was added to coffee. This way it was possible to serve coffee to the ladies without it seeming so. This dessert was quite a success and was served in all homes, until like everything else it was no longer fashionable. I published a booklet called “66 ricette di cucina montalcinese” where the fine oral Montalcinese gastronomy was transcribed. This brought back into use the caffè in forchetta that is now once again very present in the restaurant menus in the Brunello territory.
Here it is. It is a simple dessert quite apt to sweetly conclude a meal.

1 July 2020

in Farm experiences

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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We are open, come and have dinner at Fattoria del Colle

Dining is a cultural experience other than being a great pleasure. At Fattoria del Colle it becomes a melody of flavours, images and great wines

Pears cooked in wine – Fattoria del Colle Restaurant

Donatella Cinelli Colombini has collected recipes from housewives in and around Trequanda even before opening the Fattoria del Colle. For the same reason, she has a vegetable garden with lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, Aglione … as well as tarragon, and many types of mint, sage and rosemary …

FINE WINES OF CASATO PRIME DONNE AND FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Obviously the strong point of the Fattoria del Colle restaurant is that the wine comes from the two wineries: Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and the same farm where we make the Chianti Superiore, Supertuscan and Doc Orcia Cenerentola, the latter is becoming a real star in the wine world. The wine list is made up of around 15 preferences including a sparkling wine, a white and a rosé. Those who might think that using wine as a restaurant’s key strength, do not consider that the menu has been constructed to exalt the flavours in the glass and that it is possible to change the wine matched to each dish or something really extraordinary, choose a Brunello vertical tasting selecting from 23 vintages and more than 50 labels between Brunello Riserva, Prime Donne selection and regular Brunello.

Farmhouse-in-Tuscany-Restaurant-Fattoria-del-Colle

If the notes from the glass were not to be sufficient, there are always the explanations from the staff or from the chef Alessandro Sironi who is a sommelier.

MENU’ FULL OF HISTORY, TRADITION AND TASTE

The menu concentrates on daily proposals that offer authentic experiences from the Sienese countryside: 6 small servings that alternate bread soups with pinci, noble meats such as Chianina beef, or Cinta Senese pork with vegetables from the vegetable garden, traditional dishes such as the Mantovana, Panforte and pears cooked in wine together with more modern suggestions such as the Semifreddo di Mantovana. Tuscan recipes and ingredients often from farm to table. The list of dishes is a little more austere than previously, but all the same it is able to charm and express the culture of the territory even more than before.

17 June 2020

in Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

0 Comments

Summer weekend among the Tuscan vineyards

Two nights and two dinners at Fattoria del Colle in the most authentic part of Tuscany where there are wide spaces and every detail is studied to give safety and emotions

Fattoria del Colle summer weekends in Tuscany

Come and spend a weekend in the most beautiful countryside on a real four hundred year old farm. Among the vineyards, olive groves and breathtaking views Fattoria del Colle proposes stays in rooms with private bathrooms and in apartments with outdoor private areas equipped for eating out-of-doors. Carefully sanitized inside and out so as to guarantee the safety of the guests. However to avoid possible contamination, daily cleaning is still not supplied, just the delivery of clean linen.

REGENERATE OUT IN THE OPEN, TOURS WITH TASTINGS AND THEMED DINNERS

3 equipped parks where to sunbathe, admire the panorama and enjoy the quiet of the countryside, 1 swimming pool, 3 signposted hiking trails, where one discovers nature, a special trail dedicated to the vine.

What do you want to book?

brunello Tag

Brunello 2015 Riserva 95/100 WS, Brunello and Brunello Prime Donne 2016 94/100 WS

Brunello 2015 and 2016 two vintages liked by all

CENERENTOLA WINE UNDERGROUND CELLAR

A WINTER OAK WOOD TRANSFORMED INTO A CORTEN SILHOUETTE

THE TWENTIETH YEAR IS THE REVEALING ONE REGARDING LONGEVITY

HOW THE BRUNELLO PHILISOPHY HAS CHANGED DURING THE LAST 20 YEARS

THE FARMACIA SALVIONI AND ITS HISTORY SINCE 1499

ITALIAN WINE EXPERTS WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY IN ESTABLISHING THEMSELVES BY REMAINING IN THEIR HOMELAND

THE END OF 2020 THE COVID YEAR

THE FINAL BALANCE OF 2020: WINE WENT WELL, TOURISM NOT SO GOOD

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2016 RATINGS

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA 2015 RATINGS

OFFER FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

OFFER FOR THOSE NOT YET MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

WHITE TRUFFLE WEEKEND PROPOSAL AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

THE BEAUTY OF AUTUMN IN THE TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE

THE 2020 COVID GRAPE HARVEST

CLIMATE: 2020 GRAPE HARVEST FROM VERY DRY TO VERY RAINY

SPRING FROST AND SPONTANEOUS REDUCTION IN GRAPE PRODUCTION

DRY AND MILD WINTER, RAINY JUNE, TORRID JULY

FULL EXPERIENCE GRAPE HARVEST WITH BRUNELLO CHIANTI AND ORCIA

GRAPE HARVEST EXPERIENCE PROGRAM

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2014, GOOD RATINGS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS

CAFFE’ IN FORCHETTA IN MONTALCINO AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 20th CENTURY

FINE WINES OF CASATO PRIME DONNE AND FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

MENU’ FULL OF HISTORY, TRADITION AND TASTE

REGENERATE OUT IN THE OPEN, TOURS WITH TASTINGS AND THEMED DINNERS

What do you want to book?