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Chianti Superiore Tag

OFFER: TWO ORGANIC 2022 FAMILY WINE PREVIEWS

Receive 2 bottles of Rosso di Montalcino 2022, 2 bottles of Chianti Superiore 2022 and 1 Magnum Rosso Montalcino 2022 at home for €112.00

 

NEWS ON THE EXCELLENT VINTAGE 2022

Few very good and healthy grapes due to the 2021 frost which extended its effects into the following year, and also

New monthly offer with Rosso di Montalcino 2022 e Chianti Superiore 2022

New monthly offer with Rosso di Montalcino 2022 e Chianti Superiore 2022

due to the seven months of drought which put the vines and the winemakers to the test, as they were forced to continuously hoe the earth. 2022 will be remembered as the year of drought and tannins and it was also a very hot year where budding occurred early, also leading to an early harvest compared to the normal calendar. The small caliber of the grapes and their thick skins have allowed the creation of very structured and long-lived wines. The very favorable relationship between the skin and the juice of the grape has produced an exceptional concentration of noble substances and above all of tannins in the wine. For this reason, the vinification was very delicate and the maceration in contact with the skins was prolonged.

THE 2022 VINTAGE OF ROSSO DI MONTALCINO FROM CASATO PRIME DONNE

The result is a powerful and sunny Rosso di Montalcino, like the heat of summer 2022, but also with a surprisingly fresh sip thanks to the perfect acid content of the grape.

Poolwine

A category invented by the young sommelier Vincenzo Donatiello in 2018 which includes wines for the swimming pool: fresh, immediate and pleasant but never trivial

 

Poolwines-vini-da-piscina-Spumante-Rosè-Metodo-Classico-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

Poolwines-vini-da-piscina-Spumante-Rosè-Metodo-Classico-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Wine experts snub them by branding them as thirst quenchers without real quality but actually they exist all over the world. The French call them vins de soif that is wines for thirst, in English they take the name of poolwine which corresponds to the swimming pool wines proposed by the Lucanian sommelier Vincenzo Donatiello.

 

VINCENZO DONATIELLO AND POOLWINES

It was this thirty-year-old professional who proposed them for the first time in Italy in 2018. Vincenzo was the maître of the Piazza Duomo restaurant in Alba until February 2022, with the starred chef Enrico Crippa.

OFFER: A CELEBRATION OF THE 2016 VINTAGE

An opportunity not to be missed especially for the friends of Donatella’s Club. Purchase two of Casato Prime Donne’s premium wines at once, from the same vintage, and rated at 5 stars

 

May-Offer-Casato-Prime-Donne-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

May-Offer-Casato-Prime-Donne-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

The 2016 vintage is << the best vintage of an entire generation >>. This is said by Bruce Sanderson, senior editor of Wine Spectator, , a prestigious American magazine in the wine sector. According to Bruce, the Brunellos from 2016 are the most interesting wines since the 1990s.

This vintage of Brunello has also been called the year of wonders, of real masterpieces destined to make the history of the appellation, one more reason to grab and keep as many bottles of this vintage as possible, to enjoy it today as in 20 years.

 

3 bottles Brunello Prime Donne 2016

3 bottles Brunello Riserva 2016

2 vacuum pumps to be able to enjoy the bottle even a few days later

 

RECIPES AND PEOPLE OF THE FATTORIA DEL COLLE RESTAURANT

I’m back again to talk to you about the Fattoria del Colle restaurant, introducing you to 2 people and 2 delicious recipes: ravioli stuffed with cheek and pork fillet with Brunello

 

Those who arrive at Fattoria del Colle know they will find a temple of the more rural Tuscan traditions. The restaurant also reflects this spirit.

Wild-pork-fillet-with-Brunello-Fattoria-del-Colle-Tuscany

Wild-pork-fillet-with-Brunello-Fattoria-del-Colle-Restaurant- Tuscany

The interior room is decorated with a floral motif taken from the villa of Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s uncle and aunt in Chianti Classico. Here there is the fireplace and the breakfast buffet with homemade cakes and biscuits, typical cold cuts and pecorino cheese … the piece of furniture is the farmer’s old desk. The queen of farm breakfasts is Patrizia Guerri who every day prepares unbeatable doughnuts, pies and sponge cakes.

 

ALFREDO BIAGI, ROBERTA ARCHETTI AND PATRIZIA GUERRI

On the veranda of the restaurant, surrounded by greenery, is the room where guests generally dine by candlelight. Here there is a small collection of copper objects of the farming tradition: jugs, bowls, basins … The decor is more modern with padded chairs and white tablecloths but the dishes are handcrafted in  Montelupo Fiorentino inspired by those used in the countryside a century ago.
The dining room service is directed by Alfredo Biagi, AIS Sommelier of the Arezzo delegation since 2016. Alfredo is from Chianciano Terme where his family arrived at the end of the nineteenth century and experienced the golden age of this thermal wellness resort. His grandfather opened the first wine shop in Chianciano and his family managed hotels and restaurants. He himself directed Villa Nottola in Montepulciano for many years

 

OFFER: LEONE ROSSO 2019 DOC ORCIA – 5 STARS

A unique opportunity for the friends of Donatella’s Club. Personalize three of the twelve bottles of Leone Rosso DOC Orcia purchased to be able to donate them to friends with a special label

 

Donatella-and-Violante-Cinelli-Colombini-present-the-Leone-Rosso-DOC-Orcia-2019

Donatella-and-Violante-Cinelli-Colombini-present-the-Leone-Rosso-DOC-Orcia-2019

We present the 2019 vintage, classified 5 stars, of this Doc Orcia that comes from a small and exclusive production born in the vineyards, vinified and aged in cask at Fattoria del Colle, in Tuscany. Born on the hills 400 meters above sea level near Montalcino, Montepulciano and Cortona.

The Leone Rosso Doc Orcia wine is a very versatile wine that can accompany the entire meal. It is also particularly suitable to match with cold cuts and young cheeses. It adapts well to intense and even spicy foods.

Exclusively for you, 3 bottles with 3 labels to customize to celebrate a dear friend or an anniversary. For example, if Francesco invites you to his birthday, you can take a bottle with a bespoke label.

12 bottles of Leone Rosso Orcia DOC 2019

3 customizable labels

3 shopping bags with logo

 

SANGIOVESE WITH MERLOT FOR A BLEND OF ELEGANCE AND SOFTNESS

This wine contains Sangiovese and Merlot grapes resulting in a typically Tuscan elegance and silky softness.

Much appreciated for its drinkability by wine lovers and by the wine critics of Wine Spectator, James Suckling and Wine Enthusiast who, in recent years, have given excellent ratings of 90/100 and even higher.

 

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

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

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.

 

The Fattoria del Colle wine destination opens again in May

We cannot wait to show you the new cellar with the Spumante area, the small renovations, the vegetable garden and to be able to give you a taste of the new vintages and our new recipes

 

Wine destination Fattoria del Colle - Hiking through the vineyards - Tuscany

Wine destination Fattoria del Colle – Hiking through the vineyards – Tuscany

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

We have been shut to the public but we have never been still. Those who have been following us via social media have seen the awards arriving from all over the world for our wines, the birth of the photography safari and the new signposting the experimentation of dishes by our chef Doriana, the Spumante bottles on the pupitre, the spontaneous Val d’Orcia herb plantation in the vegetable garden ….

 

WINE DESTINATION: IMMERSIVE ROOM WITH THE 4 SEASONS IN THE VINEYARD

Many small things are changing Fattoria del Colle into a wine destination able to offer authentic and absorbing experiences with wines and with the old Tuscan traditions.

Wine destination Fattoria del Colle - Wine Cellar

Wine destination Fattoria del Colle – Wine Cellar

Obviously the biggest changes are in the cellar at Fattoria del Colle. The fermentation area has now been boxed off and has a shelter that will protect the grapes in arrival during the harvest. Where the packaging takes place there is already positioned a new bottling machine and soon the new labelling machine will arrive so as to guarantee the maximum care even in the last but all the same important moment in wine production. There is an immersive room where visitors will be able to hear and see what happens in the vineyards during the 4 seasons and at different times of day. So as to learn that light can change the landscape, and the cicadas are not always heard, on the contrary in summer and winter they have their noises, and the northerly wind has a different sound than the sirocco wind, while the bells are still timekeepers in countryside. An immersive experience where sounds, images and lights teach guests that the wonderful countryside surrounding them must be looked at with an attentive eye, and in a few months it will be completely different.

 

A CELLAR THAT RESEMBLES A WOOD WITH BOTTLES INSIDE

The new underground bottle storage of around 450 sq m (18°C) contains the coolest room (12°C), where the spumante rests on the yeast after the secondary fermentation. This is a craft production of just 1800 bottles per year of spumante metodo classico obtained from Sangiovese grapes. The remuage of the bottles on the  pupitre is also done by hand.
The most spectacular thing is the external overlay of the new section of the cellar representing a wood in corten steel designed by the Architect Elisa Boldi to resemble the oak trees in the winter period. At night the metal trees are backlit and give the sensation of a fairytale scenario. Naturally the most precious things, even if less spectacular, are the bottles inside. They are receiving prize after prize from all over the world. The latest are from GuidaBIO that has given the excellence with 5 leaves to the Chianti Superiore 2018 and 4 leaves to the Leone Rosso Doc Orcia and to Rosso di Montalcino Doc 2018.

 

Offer for the CLUB: Brunello, Chianti and Supertuscan

Try the Brunello 2016 with a Steak au poivre or the Supertuscan ll Drago e le 8 Colombe with chicken and vegetables with noodles or the Chianti Superiore with a hamburger

 

Club offer by Donatella Cinelli Colombini: Brunello di Montalcino, Supertuscan IGT Il Drago e le 8 Colombe, Chianti Superiore

Club offer by Donatella Cinelli Colombini: Brunello di Montalcino, Supertuscan IGT Il Drago e le 8 Colombe, Chianti Superiore

For those who adore great cheeses and wants to enjoy a delicious  snack with Brunello 2016 and Parmigiano reggiano aged 24 months, or the IGT 2016 Il Drago e le 8 Colombe Supertuscan together with an excellent tasty provolone or a un caciocavallo bianco and the Chianti Superiore DOCG matched with fontina valdostana
For those who love experimenting with dishes from all over the world and maybe mixing them throughout the same meal. For those who enjoy searching for new suggestions matching wines and food from different cultures.

To these wine lovers we propose a box with three family wines that come from  Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s vineyards and that have been aged in her cellars at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and at Fattoria del Colle south of Chianti in Tuscany. The box will be delivered directly to your home together with a vacuum stopper that allows you to extract the air from the bottle and preserve the wine for a couple of days once opened.

 

ONLINE TASTING LINK

Donatella and Violante Cinelli Colombini will taste on line these three splendid wines together with those who have ordered them. The date and the link will be communicated once the wines have reached the clients’ home.

Club offer by Donatella Cinelli Colombini: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Club offer by Donatella Cinelli Colombini: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Online Donatella and Violante will explain the wines and tell of how they were born together with some fun anecdotes.

 

HIGHLY RECOMENDED WINES

  • Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016: 95/100 Robert Parker/Wine Advocate, 93/100 Vinous Antonio Galloni, 94/100 James Suckling.
  • Supertuscan Il Drago e le 8 Colombe IGT Toscana 2016: 93/100 Robert Parker/Wine Advocate, 91/100 James Suckling.
  • Chianti Superiore DOCG 2018: first vintage with the organic certification (BIO).

 

Fattoria del Colle new top wine destination

2 new proposals for wine lovers looking for an unusual itinerant tasting or who want to spend a day among vineyards, wines and activities

 

Fattoria del Colle

Agriturismo Fattoria del Colle Restaurant

Itinerant tastings that resemble adventures out to discover vineyards and wines, aromas and tastes, panoramas and historical locations. Also the proposal for a day at Fattoria del Colle to regenerate in a safe place, in contact with nature an able to tell a story centuries old. An itinerary dedicated to vineyards and to the wines they produce. Another activity that proposes an itinerant tasting with a mixture of history, aromas and flavours. A lunch experience to taste different Tuscan cheeses or cold cuts, and on Saturdays the possibility of an excursion to the Brunello di Montalcino winery Casato Prime Donne.

Tours and lunches are organized upon request and must be booked the previous day calling +39 0577 662108 or via email at info@cinellicolombini.it

 

Fattoria-del-Colle-Trekking in the vineyards

Fattoria-del-Colle-Trekking in the vineyards

ITINERANT TASTING IN THE VINEYARDS

3 vineyards, 3 grape varieties and 3 wine tastings (h. 12,00 midday from the farm courtyard)

Itinerant tasting of the wines in the organic vineyards with the same variety of grapes are grown: Traminer for the IGT bianco Sanchimento, Foglia Tonda for the Doc Orcia Cenerentola and Sangiovese for the Brunello that is made in Montalcino at Casato Prime Donne visible at a distance. This experience thanks to an expert guide will be a fun discovery of the characteristic of the three varieties and of the vines they produce (15 Euro per person). Lasts about an hour.

 

ITINERANT TASTING IN GARDENS, VEGETABLE GARDENS, HISTORICAL LOCATIONS AND VINEYARDS

3 wines among history, vineyards, gardens and vegetable gardens (h. 3,00 pm: from the farm courtyard)

 

Trekking-in-the-vineyards-Toscana-Fattoria-del-Colle

Trekking-in-the-vineyards-Toscana-Fattoria-del-Colle

Breathtaking views, the Italian garden at Fattoria del Colle with its paths, the San Clemente chapel built in 1592 with its stories of heretics and Madonnas, the bedroom that once belonged to the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo sovereign of Tuscany and his lover Isabella, the vegetable garden with its oldest and most curious plants like mandrake that has aphrodisiacal properties, wormwood – the green fairy and the pepper tree … An itinerary of aromas, stories and legends that includes also the tasting of 3 wines from Fattoria del Colle (Chianti Superiore DOCG, Doc Orcia Leone Rosso and IGT Il Drago e le 8 Colombe) and a typical Tuscan snack with freshly picked tomatoes from the garden (13 Euro per person). Lasts about one hour.

 

Chianti Superiore DOCG 2017

2017 the lowest yield vintage ever brought to the winery gives us a Chianti Superiore, really superior, at Fattoria del Colle in the south of Tuscany

2017 will remain in the history of European viticulture as the year of the great frost. At the end of April, for three consecutive nights an arctic cold wave crossed the continent reaching as far as Spain and Sicily and destroying the buds that, that year, had sprouted 20 days in advance. The photos of Burgundy and Collio with the fires in the vineyards were on the front pages of the newspapers to show the heroism of the winemakers who fought, unfortunately, unnecessarily.
Who, like us, was saved from the frost, then had to fight with the drought and the summer heat that reached 43°C for ten days in a row. The rains of late August and September literally saved the vines and the harvest.
The last scourge was the wild boar which, driven by thirst, also ate the unripe grapes.

The end of a myth: it is business that makes a terroir

In Burgundy in 15th century, Port and Chianti in the 18th century and Champagne in the next hundred years, it has been the commercial success to give vineyards their value

 

Terroir-gallo-nero-symbol -Chianti-Classico

Terroir-gallo-nero-symbol -Chianti-Classico

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Chianti superiore

Obviously politics, connections and other circumstances have had an important role but it is always wine business that generates richness that increases the value of the terroir and attracts investors.A prosaic explanation that might be true but certainly less charming than the idea that it is the quality of a wine that crates the myth and the value of a specific territory.This is the extreme synthesis what is said in the report by Giulia Meloni and Johan Swinnen published by Wine Economics, titled Trade and terroir: the political economy of the world’s first geographical indications.We can concentrate on the analysis of the Chianti region. After the Roman era where the eternal city was the centre of wine commerce, there came the medieval period where vineyards and wine commerce were abandoned. In the 15th century Florence and Siena held the main wine markets.

This corresponded to investments made in creating vineyards, building villas, carrying out of research and introductions of salaries for those who worked in making wines. The exporting of Tuscan wines takes off when the English-French war creates serious problems for the Bordeaux wineries and so the English traders begin to seek alternatives to the Chiaretto.

Terroir-origin-of-th-value-Chianti-Classico-Castello-di-Brolio-tomb-Bettino-Ricasoli

Terroir-origin-of-the-value-Chianti-Classico-Castello-di-Brolio-tomb-Bettino-Ricasoli

So the Grand Duke Cosimo III in 1698 cancels the ban on the exporting of wine and the impact is rapid: from 300 Hl exported in 1675 to 13.000 Hl when the ban was removed. The noble Florentine families– Antinori, Frescobaldi, da Verrazzano, Ricasoli .. got rich with their wines and understood the opportunity to protect their businesses. Under their pressure the Grand Duke III emitted another two notices in 1716 that delimited the production areas and the sale of Chianti, Pomino, Carmignano and Valdarno superiore.