Donatella Cinelli Colombini Tag

TOPINI FROM MONTALCINO

MEAT-STUFFED ZUCCHINI FLOWERS TRADITIONAL IN THE FARMHOUSES OF MONTALCINO, KNOWN AS TOPINI BECAUSE THEY ARE ROUND AND HAVE A TAIL

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini, winedestination, Fattoria del Colle, Casato Prime Donne

Until fifty years ago Montalcino was a poor town where families ate little meat and lots of vegetables because everyone had a vegetable garden. For this reason, the little beef was often boiled, which was mixed with sausages and rigatino to then be stuffed with onions, artichokes, courgettes, potatoes … depending on the season of the year. Housewives had in fact managed to invent delicious dishes that fed even the largest and poorest families. Today stuffed zucchini flowers or topini, as they are called in the Montalcino lexicon, are a delicious rarity. In fact, although they are delicious to eat and can be prepared in advance and then served after heating them in the oven they require a long preparation time. This circumstance discourages young people with very little time available.

26 June 2025

Super offer with Rosa di Tetto 2024 and Brunello 2020!

Do you want to receive this offer made of 100% Sangiovese wines at €154.90 directly at home?

Dear friends, we have prepared for you an unmissable opportunity for true Sangiovese lovers! Two masterpieces from amazing vintages. The Rosa di Tetto IGT Toscana 2024, in preview, and the Brunello DOCG 2020.

🎁 together with the bottles you will find: two blue shopper bags, two sheets of tissue paper (to give a touch of elegance to a gift you will give to your friends) and the package sealer

What’s special about this offer?

This is a special opportunity to receive 2 different expressions of Sangiovese from the Donatella Cinelli Colombini farms. For the first time, part of the grapes used for the Rosa di Tetto 2024 come from the Casato Prime Donne vineyards in Montalcino. Donatella’s vineyards are grown organically and with great commitment.

🍇 Offer of the Month – For Members of Donatella’s Club

3 bottles 0.75L Rosa di Tetto IGT Toscana 2024

3 bottles 0.75L Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

two blue shopper bags, two sheets of tissue paper and two package sealers, all with the logo of the Donatella Cinelli Colombini wineries

🎯 Special price: €154.90 (instead of €184.20)

🚚 €10 discount on shipping

💡 Want to double?

12 bottles for €289.00 (instead of €368.40) with the same advantage on shipping.

19 June 2025

RIVOLTI OR CRESPELLE DELLE CRETE SENESI

THESE ARE THE ANCESTORS OF FRENCH CREPES AND ARE AMONG THE OLDEST AND MOST VERSATILE POOR RECIPES FROM SOUTHERN TUSCANY

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, winedestination, Fattoria del Colle, Casato Prime Donne

When I was young, the gastronome of Sienese cuisine was Giovanni Righi Parenti (1923-2006). Pharmacist, poet, painter and historian of local gastronomy. He was an example of that interdisciplinary and nonconformist culture that flourished by taking root in its territory. A pleasant conversationalist, an open and creative mind, a generous soul … Giovanni Righi Parenti was for decades a point of reference for cuisine enthusiasts, placing himself in the ranks of those pioneers who combined cultivation with culture: Soldati, Veronelli, Buonassisi ..

We owe him the rediscovery of a very poor dish from Southern Tuscany, the rivolti. According to him, they originated from the Crete Senesi and from there they emigrated to Florence where they began to fill them richly. They arrived in France with the chefs of Caterina de Medici when she married King Henry II in 1547. In Paris they took the name by which we know them today: crepes.

3 June 2025

BRUNELLO 2020 CHOSEN BY JAMES MAGAZINE

DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI’S 2020 BRUNELLO IN THE JAMES MAGAZINE SHOWCASE IS AMONG PAOLO VALENTE’S FAVOURITES-HE DESCRIBES IT IN HIS ARTICLE

James Magazine il Brunello 2020 di Donatella Cinelli Colombini in vetrina

James Magazine Brunello 2020 by Donatella Cinelli Colombini showcased

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, winedestination, Fattoria del Colle, Casato Prime Donne

James Magazine is an online magazine directed by journalist and wine critic Bruno Petronilli that draws inspiration from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s maxim “beauty will save the world”. A concept that is expressed in <<luxury of pleasure, including champagne and great wines, art, restaurants, travel, exclusive resorts, spirits, cigars. James Magazine, or rather passions, unstoppable and dazzling, that dominate the soul, the heart and the mind>>.

THE 2020 BRUNELLOS DISPLAYED BY JAMES MAGAZINE

On the occasion of Benvenuto Brunello, he tasted the 2020 vintage defined by the special panel organized by the Consortium as <<Enticing, brilliant, succulent>> adjectives to which James Magazine adds the words <<versatile and suited for aging>>.

Seeing my Brunello among the favourites for the 2020 harvest is a pleasure and a satisfaction. The three 2020 Brunellos on display are Vigna Montosoli by Canalicchio di Sopra, Donatella Cinelli Colombini and Podernovi di San Polo by Marilisa Allegrini. They are followed by 12 other labels, most of which are selections or single vineyards. My Brunello is instead the classic typology, the one we consider to be more vertical in style, elegant and capable of expressing terroir, vintage and vine variety.

30 May 2025

UPGRADE OF A CORNER OF FATTORIA DEL COLLE

DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI GIVES IN TO GLOBAL WARMING AND PUTS AIR CONDITIONING IN THE ROOMS AND APARTMENTS THAT RESEMBLE THE HOUSES OF TUSCAN GRANDPARENTS

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, winedestination, Fattoria del Colle, Casato Prime Donne

The backs of Tuscan farms were traditionally used for artisanal activities: the blacksmith, the oil mill, the laundry… Fattoria del Colle is no exception and on the ground floor, behind the sixteenth-century villa, it had the olive grove, the workshop and the wagon shed and the wash houses. It seems like a more modest part compared to the facades but it is not.

22 May 2025

NEW WINE SHOP AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

LORELLA SALVI CREATES THE NEW SHOP IN THE CELLAR AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE WITH A VERY TUSCAN DESIGN ENTIRELY “MADE IN TUSCANY”

The partnership between Donatella Cinelli Colombini with the OMIF company from Siena and the interior designer Lorella Salvi is now approaching twenty years. It began in the Toscana Lovers store in Siena and continued in Bagno Vignoni and Cortona with the furnishing of the other two shops of the best Tuscan craftsmanship for the home. Commercial activities coordinated by Cecilia Sacchi who also orchestrated the renovation of the cellar stores.

LORELLA SALVI THE INTERIOR DESIGNER OF DONATELLA’S STORES

Two years ago, Lorella designed the shop at Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino in natural wood with an austere style suitable for Brunello and also inspired by the libraries of aristocratic residences. This year she designed the commercial area of the Fattoria del Colle winery in Trequanda using a cream colour that recalls the pantries of Tuscan castles and villas. The commercial area is in the innermost part of a very large room located in the basement of the sixteenth-century villa.

1 May 2025

ANCHOVIES WITH PARSLEY AND AGLIONE PESTO

AN APPETIZER FULL OF FLAVOUR AND MEMORIES THAT REPRESENTS THE MOST REAL AND FAMILIAR TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE ONLY WITH AGLIONE INSTEAD OF GARLIC

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini, #winedestination, Fattoria del Colle, Casato Prime Donne

Anchovies with parsley and Aglione from Valdichiana – Toscana, Trequanda, Fattoria del Colle

The simplicity of certain preparations brings with it the flavour of old Tuscan farms, of the ancient wisdom of gestures. Perhaps it is precisely the authenticity of what has not changed over the centuries that gives us back the experience of the past. For this reason, I invite you to prepare anchovies with parsley pesto as Nunziatina did, that is, Annunziata Ferretti, matriarch of her family and head housewife in the kitchen of my Colombini grandparents’ house in Montalcino.

FROM CLASSIC PESTO TO PESTO WITH AGLIONE

There are four recommendations: the extra virgin olive oil must be the one pressed a few months ago using organic olives picked early by hand. Just like the one made in Fattoria del Colle.

16 April 2025

Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023 BIO-Organic

THE SCARCEST HARVEST IN MEMORY, IT HAD A SLOW AND GRADUAL RIPENING WHICH PUT INTO THE GLASS A ROSSO DI MONTALCINO WITH VERY CLASSIC CHARACTERISTICS

Casato Prime Donne Montalcino vendemmia 2023 Violante CinelliColombini mostra il lettore ottico

Casato Prime Donne Montalcino 2023 harvest Violante CinelliColombini shows the optical reader

For Donatella Cinelli Colombini, the 2023 harvest was <<the most difficult harvest of my life, with my husband Carlo in hospital in Malta and my daughter Violante who directed the harvest alone flying back and forth from Valletta>>.

Added to this were the rainfalls in spring and summer, the attacks of downy mildew and 3 small hailstorms.

In the end, few grapes arrived in the cellar, half the amount of the previous year, but of excellent quality. The Sangiovese grapes showed perfect analytical values. A new selector with optical reader completed the grape selection work by choosing only the best, berry by berry, with the utmost attention.

THE 2023 VINTAGE

After a very dry 2022, a very rainy 2023 arrived. It rained in winter and especially in spring with a June like a universal deluge. Even in summer, very hot days alternated with thunderstorms. The grapes changed colour at the end of August and then the ripening had a slow and regular character. An old-fashioned climate that gives rise to very classic wines.

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

Casato Prime Donne is all organically grown. It is located on the northern side of Montalcino on the slopes of the Montosoli hill. The vineyards surround the old farmhouse that gives its name to the property and belonged to Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors at least since the end of the sixteenth century.

10 April 2025

TOP offer with the Supertuscan Il Drago e le 8 Colombe

Do you want to receive this vertical of Il Drago e le 8 Colombe directly at your home for €159.00?

Dear friends, we have prepared an unmissable opportunity for you! Three vintages of Il Drago e le 8 Colombe, all 5 stars: 2012, 2015, and 2020.

This is a special opportunity to compare three harvests of the Super Tuscan il Drago e le 8 Colombe produced at Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda. This wine brings you the aromas of ripe red fruits and the powerful and harmonious flavour typical of a high hill territory where the air is clean and the ripening of the grapes is slow.

OFFER OF THE MONTH: THREE VINTAGES WITH FIVE STARS

The classification of Italian wine vintages ranges from the maximum excellence of five stars, awarded exclusively to the best vintages, to a minimum of one star for the worst vintages. By consulting the vintages you can choose which ones to buy for a wine to cellar or to drink immediately.

🎁 together with the bottles you will find a small gift: a personalized wine saver pump from the Donatella Cinelli Colombini winery. Ideal for decorating your cellar or your kitchen but also as a gift..

7 March 2025

AN EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR TRUE ENTHUSIASTS

Would you like to receive 4 bottles of Brunello Prime Donne 2020 and a magnum of Prime Donne 2020 directly at your home for €292.00?

Dear wine lovers, we have prepared an unmissable opportunity for you! Brunello Prime Donne 2020, an extraordinary wine resulting from a meticulous selection by four internationally renowned female experts, is available in a special proposal in two formats.

This is the first vintage in which Brunello Prime Donne is produced exclusively with grapes from the “Prime Donne” vineyard at Casato Prime Donne, with a limited production of only 5,000 bottles. A Brunello that embodies elegance, finesse and longevity, created to satisfy the palate of the most demanding female consumers, but capable of conquering everyone.

OFFER OF THE MONTH: TWO FORMATS FOR EVERY OCCASION

– The 0.75L bottle, perfect for an intimate dinner or a tasting among a few connoisseurs.

– The magnum (1.5L), ideal for special occasions and for those who love to see the wine evolve over time in a sublime way.

SPECIAL OFFER FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

– 4 bottles (0.75L) of Brunello Prime Donne 2020 BIO

– 1 Magnum (1.5L) of Brunello Prime Donne 2020 BIO

– 1 personalized wooden lid from the Donatella Cinelli Colombini winery

28 February 2025

WINENEWS IS THE N. 1 WINE BLOG IN ITALY AND THE N. 23 IN THE WORLD

LIKE EVERY YEAR FEEDSPOT, THE WORLD’S LARGEST DATA BASE ON BLOGS, PUBLISHES THE RANKING OF THE BEST ON WINE AND WINENEWS IS ONCE AGAIN NO. 1 IN ITALY

Alessandro Regoli e Irene Chiari WineNews Vincitori del Premio Casato Prime Donne 2024

Alessandro Regoli and Irene Chiari WineNews

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, #winedestination, #brunellodimontalcino

In truth, there is something strange in the two wine blog rankings: Intravino is in 14th place in the world list but does not appear in the Italian one even though he is a compatriot. Odd!!!

BEST ITALIAN WINE BLOGS

FeedSpot is a huge archive where you can find blogs, videos, podcasts on any topic and choose the ones to follow based on their style and content. Once a year it brings together the best and Wine News is always in a leading position. The best Italian wine blogs are chosen from thousands of digital media outlets, based on relevance, authority, social media followers and freshness.

First, therefore, WineNews led by Irene Chiari and Alessandro Regoli from their headquarters in Montalcino. A global broadcaster speaking from a small town that has become famous for being the home of Brunello wine. WineNews is described by FeedSpot << The reference point for information on the world of wine: interviews, videos, reviews, insights and always the latest news. Winenews is a communication agency>>. Followed by Vinoway and WineBlogRoll by Francesco Saverio Russo. Only 6th position for the Italian version of Wine Spectator.

25 February 2025

TUSCAN STEWED CAULIFLOWER

DELICIOUS WINTER SIDE DISH FROM THE TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE TRADITION WHICH CAN BECOME A ROYAL RECIPE WITH EVO OIL LIKE WHAT IS MADE AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini, #winedestination, #docorcia

Three-time cooked vegetables are typical of Tuscan cuisine. In summer, celery or cardoons are boiled, fried and cooked with tomato sauce. In winter the same preparation is made with cauliflower. From my experience there is more tomato in the Val d’Orcia version and much less in the Val di Chiana one but the recipes are still delicious. They are a side dish to pair with chicken Cacciatore or freshly made buffalo mozzarella.

Very easy to perform but a bit lengthy

20 February 2025

IL DRAGO E LE 8 COLOMBE IGT TOSCANA 2020

2020 WILL BE REMEMBERED BECAUSE OF COVID BUT ALSO FOR THE EXCELLENT QUALITY OF THE GRAPES AND THE LUCK WHICH SAVED THE VINEYARDS FROM BAD WEATHER

VENDEMMIA 2020 Donatella Cinelli Colombini controlla il colore del mosto

2020 Harvest Donatella Cinelli Colombini checks the colour of the must

Everyone remembers Covid masks and tests always at hand. In reality we should remember it as one of the luckiest harvests because the damage from the spring frost (18-23 March) was less than elsewhere and because the autumn rainfalls circled around the vineyards until the end of the harvest.Lucky but scarce, the 2020 vintage certainly deserves 5 stars, the maximum rating.Donatella Cinelli Colombini has been cultivating her vineyards organically for years and has been following a project called “Vineyard first” for years. It consists in a large investment in labour and equipment so that the grapes arrive in the cellar in perfect conditions on the first day of full maturation. A lot of work and a lot of attention which, in years like 2020, are helped by nature and the climate.

The 2020 grapes were healthy, with small berries, well-lignified seeds and the Sangiovese had the typical crunchiness of great vintages. Analytical data even better than 2019 with an excellent content of noble substances in the skins (extractable polyphenols) and a nice acid content

18 February 2025