Brunello Prime Donne 2016 in preview
2016 was the vintage of deep red wines. Brunello Prime Donne by Donatella Cinelli Colombini expresses her philosophy of a return to the origins of this designation

Montalcino: fermentation room of Brunello at Casato Prime Donne
In the spring of 2016 the vines budded 15 days sooner than usual, but the grape harvest took place at the beginning of October, more in line with the traditional calendar. For the first time in the last twenty years Donatella Cinelli Colombini saw her grapes ripen in the old way. The accumulation of sugar in the grapes proceeded more slowly than the ripening of the polyphenols and everything happened very gradually thanks to the sunny days (only one storm on September 18th) and to the cold nights. When harvest time arrived the ripening was perfect both in the skin and in the grape pulp.
Sangiovese grapes able to produce long lasting, deep and complex wines. Very elegant wines with silky tannins and a great harmony. Wines that are similar to those that Donatella learned to love as a young woman with her grandfather Giovanni Colombini and that, now in fact, are vinified like long ago; in small unlined concrete vats, using autochthonous yeasts and punching down the caps with the plunger.

Brunello Prime Donne 2016 Donatella Cinelli Colombini
BRUNELLO PRIME DONNE SYMBOL OF FEMALE TALENT IN WINE
The Brunello Prime Donne is the symbol of the first winery in Italy to be all female staffed, Casato Prime Donne on the North-West slope of Montalcino. Three female winemakers work here – Barbara, Sabrina and Giada – plus an external consultant, Valérie Lavigne. The decisions regarding the selection, the ageing and the blending among various barrels, involve a panel of 4 female international super wine tasters: a wine store owner, a sommelier, and two Masters of wine: Astrid Schwarz, Daniela Scrobogna, Rosemary George MW with now the addition of the Swedish Madeleine Stenwreth MW.


























