brunello Tag

2 March 2022

Fattoria del Colle is waiting for you for Easter 2022

A program with 2 Tours with itinerant tastings, vertical tasting of 6 Brunello, lesson on typical cakes, photo safari for Easter 2022

Tuscany-Fattoria-del-Colle-winery-corten-steel-rail

Fattoria del Colle reopens its doors for Easter. In the splendid scenery of the most intact Tuscany, where the great red wines for ageing are born, tourists will be able to live four days full of engaging and exciting experiences. Returning home, they will discover that they have learned so much about the history, the wines – Brunello, Orcia, Chianti Superiore, Supertuscan – the foods and even the traditional herbs of Tuscany.

EASTER 2022 AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

The long Easter weekend – from Good Friday to Easter Monday – allows you to regenerate with “landscape therapy” BIO -organic vineyards and olive groves, three equipped parks, paths where you can go trekking or stop to enjoy views of extraordinary beauty.

Tuscany-Fattoria-del-Colle-restaurant

The Fattoria del Colle is like a small rural hamlet with a chapel and a villa built in the 16th century surrounded by farmhouses. They have been transformed into apartments and rooms for tourists while maintaining the intimacy of the past thanks to the furnishings of authentic local antiques.
There is a restaurant, the old barn with the banquet hall, the cooking school and the natural wellness area where wellness lovers can enjoy massages and wine therapy for couples.

9 February 2022

in Characters and places, Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Wedding among the Tuscan vineyards

The informal elegance of the Tuscan countryside for those who dream of a unique wedding enlivened by great wines. At the Fattoria del Colle: history, nature and joy

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Getting married in Tuscany, among the Chianti and Orcia DOC organic vineyards, in the “most beautiful wine in the world”. In front of the wonderful landscape of the Crete Senesi and Valdorcia. It looks like a movie, but instead it’s reality.

In a 16th century farm that has remained intact over time, with historic gardens, monumental halls, winery and restaurant. Almost a small rural hamlet where the old farmhouses have been transformed into rooms and apartments for tourists (106 beds) and are furnished with authentic antiques that transmit warmth and intimacy.

WEDDING AMONG THE VINEYARDS FOR THOSE WHO LOVE NATURE, HISTORY AND FINE WINES

Weddings-in-Tuscany-great-wines-like-photo-set-for-the-newlyweds-at-Fattoria-del-Colle

The wedding at Fattoria del Colle is for those who love nature and fine wines. For those who want a romantic and Tuscan-style wedding party. For those who want something elegant and informal at the same time, where everyone is comfortable.

For those who love the taste of typical cuisine but also refined things and then want to dance, go wild or let themselves be lulled by the magic of summer nights in the countryside ….
In the summer of 2022 some midweek dates are still available while the 2023 calendar is almost entirely empty. Obviously the weddings organized from Monday to Thursday have the advantage of a lower cost (10% or more off both the party and overnight stays). Not a bad choice, Donatella Cinelli Colombini got married on Thursday too!

CIVIL, SYMBOLIC OR RELIGIOUS BUT NOT CATHOLIC WEDDINGS

At the Fattoria del Colle civil ceremonies, non-Catholic religious rites and symbolic ceremonies are possible.

23 December 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA 2016

In the wonderful 2016 harvest, 5 stars, the best Brunello Riserva ever produced at Casato Prime Donne, apt for long cellaring

Montalcino-fermentation-room-for-Brunello-Casato-Prime-Donne

There is a magic, a mystery, a beauty … in nature, which must be understood and enhanced. In 2016 in the vineyards at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino one of these wonders took place in the Sangiovese grapes for Brunello.

THE MAGIC OF THE BRUNELLO 2016 BORN FROM A LONG VEGETATION CYCLE

Every year, to produce grapes, the vine performs a vegetative cycle similar to the pregnancy that gives birth to babies.
For women it lasts nine months, for the vine six.
Two months from budding to flowering, two months from flowering to veraison, which means to the change of colour of the clusters and the last two months until harvest.
With climate change when it is very hot the budding takes place, often, 15 days sooner and therefore also the harvest generally takes place in advance compared to the traditional calendar.
Instead, in 2016, the vegetative cycle, so the pregnancy of the grapes began early and ended late because in the last phase the climate slowed down the ripening.

Brunello-di-Montalcino-Riserva-2016-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

This has created an authentic masterpiece in the vineyards at Casato Prime Donne. The perfect grapes that produced a very elegant and satisfying Brunello, silky like very thick velvet, deep and able to defy time.

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

Casato Prime Donne is a property of 40 hectares of which almost half are vineyards of Sangiovese variety. The cultivation is organic, certified since 2018. Donatella Cinelli Colombini‘s estate already belonged to her ancestors in 1592. It is located in the northern area of Montalcino where the climate is cooler and the soils are colder and rich in clays.
Cultivation and harvesting are manual. Shortly before full ripening, the grapes are tasted to divide the vineyards into small parcels with homogeneous characters and to decide the harvest calendar. The area with the greatest qualitative potential is destined to the production of Brunello Riserva.

22 October 2021

in Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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TOP WINE FOR THANKSGIVING 2021

October offer: 6 bottles of Brunello 2015 Riserva five star vintage. A great wine with which to celebrate autumn with friends and with the Thanksgiving roast turkey

Offer-Brunello-Riserva-2015-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini-with-wineskin

The Brunello di Montalcino 2015 Riserva is a fine red apt for long cellaring that can be stored for decades for an important occasion but also opened now to match with the Thanksgiving roasted turkey. Its velvety, powerful and refined character transforms autumn lunches into special occasions to always be remembered.

DON’T MISS THE OCCASION TO CELEBRATE WITH A FINE WELL-RATED WINE BY THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS

The Brunello Riserva 2015 has obtained exceptional rankings from the major international wine critics:
95 Wine Spectator
94 Wine Advocate – Robert Parker
94 Vinous – Antonio Galloni

Brunello-riserva-2015-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

93 James Suckling
92 Wine Enthusiast

A SMALL PRESENT FOR THOSE WHO WILL BE TRAVELLING BY PLANE AND WANT TO TAKE A BRUNELLO WITH THEM TO CELEBRATE

Together with the 6 bottles of this wine, we will put into the case a wineskin, a sealed bubble wrap sachet that permits travelling with the bottles in your suitcase during flights, protecting them from damage and saving your clothes in case your suitcase is really badly treated.

FOR THE MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB 6 BOTT. BRUNELLO 2015 RISERVA – WINE CELEBRATION BOX

Offer for Memebers 378,00 Euro (instead of 450,00 Euro)

For Club members who wish to double the order the deal is even better: 12 bottles of Brunello 2015 Riserva 736,00 Euro (instead of 900,00 Euro)

The price includes free shipping in Italy or 15 Euro discount for shippings abroad together with 1 wineskin

5 October 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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2021 grape harvest collage

Obsessive care in the choice of Sangiovese grapes: here is how the 2021 harvest is giving us small absolute excellences of Brunello apt for very long ageing

2021-Grape-Harvest-Tuscany-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini-Brunello

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

For years, vinifying a “single vineyard” has been a happy memory. The search for quality in grapes has become so maniacal that the harvest has become a patchwork that brings together small quantities of clusters of the same variety but with similar or completely opposite characteristics to balance each other.

<<Take the grapes from this corner, put them together with those from the vines from the central area of the vineyard next door and then move three parcels further on to take the rest to be vinified in the same vat>>. Barbara Magnani, the senior oenologist of my cellars, has the map of the harvest plan in her mobile phone so as not to miss the complicated collage.

HARVEST 2021- THE PATCHWORK HARVEST

They are all Sangiovese grapes from our vineyards. The new thing, compared to the past, is that they come from different areas and even from different sides of the espalier. The harvest has become similar to a treasure hunt where you use your mouth to select the grapes and the scales to weigh them in order to fill the vat in a single day exactly with the most homogeneous grapes.

2021-Grape-Harvest-Tuscany-Sangiovese-Casato-Prime-Donne-Montalcino

In the end we realized that winemaking vats over 100 hl no longer serve us and we will have to sell them to fill the fermentation hall with many small containers with a capacities of 20, 30, 50 hl but not larger. Visually it will be like the “house of the seven dwarfs” with many pot-bellied dwarfs. Something very different from the beautiful fermentation rooms in the past, with containers all the same size.

The “collage harvest” is very slow and very accurate <<to pick the grapes in this way it takes twice as long>> grumbles the head of the vineyards Efisio Luche struggling with the lack of staff that characterizes 2021.

BRUNELLO 2021 HARVEST

<<So you tell me that from June to now there have been only two rainfalls for a total of 31 mm of water I believe it, but the vineyard does not seem to have suffered thirst, because it is very well>> said our oenologist consultant Valérie Lavigne arriving on September 21 in the vineyards at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and ordering us to suspend the harvest of the Brunello grapes for a week. According to her, the quality of the 2021 grapes is higher than that of previous years and this has given us enthusiasm once again.

In Montalcino we are generally the first to pick while this year we will be the last. A choice that depends on the distance of about 20 days between the budding of the first buds and that of the last caused by a cold spell. The frost at the beginning of April is the main reason for the only major problem with the 2021 harvest: the scarcity of grapes. The secondary reason is the dry climate that has led to small bunches and berries. In the end there are few bunches and they have little juice so the yield in wine is below average.

In the grapes there is a beautiful high acidity almost all tartaric and this will give us very vertical and structured wines to the delight of lovers of Brunello for long aging. In fact, when the ripening phase lengthens in a period with cold nights, as has happened this year, we have Brunello of extraordinary aromatic richness and able to defy time. During the harvest the daytime temperature was close to 29 ° C, while at night it fell by 15°C.

30 June 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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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

0 Comments

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

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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

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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

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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.