What do you want to book?

 

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Tag

DONATELLA TALKS ABOUT HER TWO WINERIES

Two wineries with a single Tuscan soul and the feminine dream of qualitative excellence.  Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda

 

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini #winedestination

 

Fattoria del Colle Trequanda

Fattoria del Colle Trequanda

The Casato farm already belonged to my ancestors in 1592. Over the centuries they used it for hunting and for honeymoons. Today the property seems close to the town of Montalcino in a northerly direction, towards Siena, but at that time it appeared remote and in the middle of the woods suitable for solitary intimacy. More recently the Casato belonged to my grandmother Giuliana Tamanti Colombini, then to my mother Francesca and in the future, it will go to my daughter Violante. All women for a winery which is the first in Italy with an entirely female staff and has been renamed “Casato Prime Donne”.

 

 

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

In 1998, when my mother gave it to me, Casato was almost a ruin. In 25 years, it has changed into an estate capable of exporting to 44 countries around the world with around 17 hectares (out of a total area of ​​40) of organic Sangiovese vineyards cultivated with obsessive care. I am a traditionalist, a nature lover but also a non-conformist and rather rebellious. For this reason, in my first years alone, I looked for new and different solutions, then I returned to being the paladin of everything ancient and manual with roots proudly in the earth. My Brunellos stand out for their harmonious and certainly feminine elegance.

CASATO PRIME DONNE AWARD POSTPONED

DUE TO THE SERIOUS HEALTH CONDITIONS OF CARLO GARDINI, DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI’S HUSBAND, IT HAS BEEN DECIDED TO POSTPONE THE CASATO PRIME DONNE AWARD

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Francesca Colombini e Donatella Cinelli Colombini al Premio Casato Prime Donne 20216

Francesca Colombini e Donatella Cinelli Colombini al Premio Casato Prime Donne 2016

The 2023 edition of the Casato Prime Donne Award, scheduled for September 16TH , was dedicated to Francesca Colombini Cinelli, whom I would like to remember here with you.

 

The initiative was born with the name Premio Barbi Colombini thanks to my mother, in 1981, to bring the interest of the press on Montalcino and Brunello, but also to create new contacts, in the belief that the relationship with great cultural personalities would open minds and would stimulate new energy in the whole territory.

Over the years it has given a boost to the growth of Montalcino and, in 1999, the Award was transformed into a promoter of female talent,  and since last year it has added to its previous activity that of incubator of young talents.

 

THE WORL’S MOST DESIRED WINES

WHICH WINES MOST ATTRACT THE INTEREST OF WINE LOVERS AROUND THE WORLD? MOUTON, LAFITE AND DOM PERIGNON

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

 

Sassicaia San Guido sixth most desired wine in the world

Sassicaia San Guido sixth most desired wine in the world

Don Kavanagh delights us on Wine Searcher with always very “appetizing” news for wine enthusiasts. In this case it is the list of bottles that attract the most attention, the ones that lovers of the nectar of Bacchus look for the most online

The proof that it is a reliable source comes from the numbers: Wine Searcher has 240 million searches a year on a repertoire of 15.9 million wine, beer and spirit labels. Mind-boggling numbers where any bottle ends up disappearing in the multitude … except for some that for fame, qualitative excellence and prestige emerge like the tip of a huge iceberg. And they are more or less always the same ones: French (with some exceptions) and celebrated for dozens and dozens of years

NEW LOOK FOR THE CASATO PRIME DONNE WINE SHOP

 

The Casato Prime Donne winery in Montalcino has renovated its Tuscan-style store, made by Tuscan artisans and designed by  Tuscan Lorella Salvi

 

The wine shop changes look

The wine shop changes look

 

Faithful to her principles, Donatella Cinelli Colombini wanted the Casato Prime Donne to speak the area in which it is located. She hates “non-places”, i.e. environments that could be anywhere in the world and do not tell their own story. So, when she realized that her cellar store needed a restoration, she called Lorella Salvi from the OMIF company in Siena and asked her to <<reorganize this space for me using the style of the place, the local materials and the craftsmen of this area>>.

 

THE CASATO PRIME DONNE STORE

 

Lorella smiled but understood. She has been collaborating with Donatella for many years and designed the 3 stores for her: Tuscany Lovers in Siena, Bagno Vignoni and Cortona. For the Casato Prime Donne she therefore designed an environment of very Tuscan austere elegance: wooden shelves with pilasters and frames that recall the old pharmacies of the region, Carrara marble top as in the taverns and three ancient terracotta jars (obviously Tuscan) to support the counter and the glass surface on which to prepare the tastings. Some choices have been controversial such as those regarding the marble, which <<gets stained but when stained it becomes more seasoned and more real>>.

The overall effect is that of furniture “that has always been there” perfectly integrated with a stone farmhouse built over four hundred years ago. Above the wine shelves there are some ancient agricultural tools interspersed with ceramic panels that explain the origin of the name Montalcino from the Latin words Mons and Ilex which

wooden shelf, Casato Prime Donne

wooden shelf, Casato Prime Donne

became Mons ilicini that is mount of holm oaks (cuercus ilex). The holm oak is the dominant essence in the woods of the Brunello area and was the main economic resource of the inhabitants until the eighteenth century. It was used to produce ceramics and to tan leather thanks to its tannin-rich bark.

Brunello IOsonoDonatella 2016 first wine with a pedigree

A fine wine is like a work of art whose value increases when its path can be traced from the execution onwards. Here is the Brunello with pedigree

 

Brunello 2013 2015 2016 IOsonoDonatella

Brunello 2013 2015 2016 IOsonoDonatella

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, art historian winemaker, wanted her most exclusive wine to be like an author’s painting and has prepared a certificate in which to note every change of hand of the bottle after leaving the cellar. A document that tells the story of wine after the stage of production and also places the right emphasis on who owns it because, it is well known, how the presence of “excellent names” increases its value.

The first bottle with a “pedigree“, therefore with the “family tree” of the owners, is a Brunello di Montalcino 2016 IOsonoDonatella.

It is a very small numbered series of only 180 copies. It begins its marketing in February 2023 inside a luxury box which also contains the 2013 and 2015 vintages of the same wine. Together they form a vertical destined for great wine lovers and collectors. The presence of the certificate on the IOsonoDonatella 2016 is the last touch that increases its prestige.

Dry January is more and more cool, but is it really good for you?

Among the techniques to limit the consumption of alcohol, dry January has made inroads above all in the  generation Z but is spreading everywhere

 

Dry January, a month without alcohol

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

This trend is a kind of early Lent but with the same regenerating purpose after a period of abuse such as that of the Christmas and New Year holidays. It consists in avoiding all sorts of alcohol throughout the month of January

 

 

 

 

 

 

DRY JANUARY IN UK AND USA

My friends from London city have told me that Dry January is very popular in the world of finance. In the United Kingdom, in fact, since 2013 Alcohol Change UK has been conducting major campaigns to promote it and helps participants with a coaching action through a free app. Inside there are not only tips but also the calculation of calories and money saved during the month without alcohol.

The Morning Consult survey conducted January 4-5, 2021 with 2,200 US adults found that 13% of American respondents were participating in Dry January.

THE BEDROOM THAT BELONGED TO THE GRAND DUKE

THE HISTORY OF THE ROOM CREATED AT  FATTORIA DEL COLLE, FOR THE ROMANTIC  ENCOUNTERS OF THE GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY PIETRO LEOPOLDO WITH HIS LOVER ISABELLA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO SLEEP IN IT?

 

Agriturismo in Tuscany Fattoria del Colle Grand Duke’s bedroom

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard von Habsburg-Lothringen was born in Vienna in 1847 and became Grand Duke of Tuscany at the age of eighteen in 1865. He left my region in 1890 to become Emperor of Austria and died in Vienna two years later. Her sister Marie Antoinette was the Queen of France guillotined during the revolution and another sister, Maria Carolina, reigned in Naples.

 

PIETRO LEOPOLDO GREAT SOVEREIGN AND GREAT WOMANIZER

His wife Maria Luisa of Bourbon was the daughter of the King of Spain and bore him 16 children, creating a family that, in the eyes of the Austrians, was too boisterous and disorderly.

94 and 93 points for the Brunello 2018 by Donatella

James Suckling, as always, is the first of the great international critics to publish his judgments on Brunello, and he rewards those by Donatella with 93 and 94 points

 

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

WHO IS JAMES SUCKLING

James-Suckling-with-ErikaRibaldi-DonatellaCinelliColombini

James-Suckling-with-ErikaRibaldi-DonatellaCinelliColombini

He was born in Los Angeles in 1959 and lives between his home in Borro (Arezzo) and Hong King but is also an honorary citizen of Montalcino.
After his studies in political science and journalism at the Universities of Wisconsin and Utah he began to write and from 1981 for the new born magazine Wine Spectator. In 1984, he followed his passion for wine by making his first trip to Europe and the following year he became the European correspondent of the Wine Spectator, a role he held until 2010.
Subsequently his activity as a taster continued with an online magazine that bears his name and that organizes splendid events all over the world. He was among the first to understand the potential of digital communication and is on the podium as one of the strongest wine influencers in the world.
Suckling is internationally regarded as one of the most knowledgeable and influential critics for wine and vintage cigars. His sophisticated style is known in life as in tastings. For example, Suckling has always tasted only with his glasses and now uses a line of crystal goblets created especially for him.

THE GIFTS OF WINE TOURISM TO ITALIAN WINE

Women, followers and themed hotels. These are the gifts that wine tourism can give to Italian wineries and which can greatly increase the business

 

Gifts-to-wine-tourism-to-wine-CasatoPrimeDonne-higher-women-role

Gifts-to-wine-tourism-to-wine-CasatoPrimeDonne-higher-women-role

Donatella Cinelli Colombini

For the second time I have been invited  to the Divinea Wine Tech Symposium this year in Milan in mid-November. My contribution focused on what wine tourism can give to Italian wine and here I explain the 3 “gifts” of wine hospitality to the wine business.

 

THE GIFTS OF WINE TOURISM TO WINE:  FEMALE PROFESSIONALS AND CONSUMERS

The  wine incoming has contributed to the growth of interest in wine among the fairer sex. In reality it is not a new thing, 80% of the world’s wine is bought by women and these  above all are bottles for daily consumption. 55% of habitual Italian wine consumers are women. But the recent novelty is the leading role that ladies are also assuming in the premium and super premium segment, a circumstance that also derives from the growth in the female percentage among the visitors to the cellars.

WELCOME LORENZO

Violante and Enrico are the proud parents of a 3.4 kg boy born in Florence on November 5th, who has been named Lorenzo

 

Violante-and-Enrico-introduce-their-baby-boy-Lorenzo

Violante-and-Enrico-introduce-their-baby-boy-Lorenzo

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Violante has had a perfect pregnancy to the point of going to fairs and traveling until the sixth month. There was only a slight delay in the growth of the baby’s abdominal circumference which normalized during their holidays in Gozo-Malta thanks to the sun and the affection of friends.

 

BUSINESS TRIPS AND WINE FAIRS DURING THE PREGNANCY FOR VIOLANTE

During Vinitaly I still did not know about the pregnancy and I did not understand Enrico’s concern for Violante‘s severe cold. Only later did I realize that working the whole fair and even dismantling the stand for Violante was a bit risky.

After all, Violante travelled a lot during her pregnancy. At the very beginning she went with her husband to Dubai to recover on the honeymoon that hadn’t happened after the wedding due to Covid. But nothing stops the intrepid Vio! Just after returning from a trip abroad, the future parents showed Carlo and me an ultrasound scan announcing the baby’s arrival.

WHO WE WERE, WHO WE ARE AND WHO WE WILL BE

The dream of producing great wines comes true. Donatella Cinelli Colombini tells of the difficult beginning and the slow creation of a brand with a strong identity

 

2002 Casato-Prime -Donne-Montalcino-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini-in-the-cellar

2002 Casato-Prime -Donne-Montalcino-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini-in-the-cellar

1998-2002 HEROIC YEARS

20 hectares of old vineyard and 5 hectares of new planting on an excavation that unfortunately will have many problems and a short life.

There are no cellars and the wine is held part at the Fattoria dei Barbi and part of it in spaces rented from producer friends.

The production of wine begins with a “dowry” of the future Brunello 1993, 94, 95, 96 and 97

The “Donatella Cinelli Colombini” brand is created, along with the logo and labels of the first wines. The Prime Donne project is born with the winery managed by a female staff, the Brunello selected by a group of female tasters and the Casato Prime Donne award dedicated to the new female role in society and work.

In 2001 the winery of the Fattoria del Colle was inaugurated

In 2002 the Casato Prime Donne winery was inaugurated

Planting of the new vineyards begins: Cenerentola and Pieve at Fattoria del Colle, Ardita and Pero at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino

Experimentation of the native Foglia Tonda vine starting from 400 grafts from the vitarium of the Regione Toscana

The vines are cultivated in a conventional way, in the cellar there are barrels and barriques. The oenologists are initially Luigino Casagrande and then Fabrizio Ciufoli.

 

SUSTAINABILITY IN WINE

Many wineries are committed to sustainability but few are capable of communicating it because they make ethical choices out of conviction and not out of marketing

 

Sustainability in wine : more real but less communicated - Fattoria del Colle - Tuscany

Sustainability in wine : more real but less communicated – Fattoria del Colle – Tuscany

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

The situation is reversed but resembles that of Giulio Cesare’s wife, Pompea when her lover, Claudius, entered their home during the celebrations in honour of the goddess Bona. In the divorce process Cesare made no mention of the fact and when asked for a reason he replied that his wife should not even be touched by the suspicion.

Which meant that it was not enough that she was honest but she also had to appear honest.

 

SUSTAINABILITY IN WINE IS REAL BUT LESS COMMUNICATED

As regards to sustainability in wine, the reverse is true. As WineNews rightly titled << Sustainability in wine in Italy: many do it, fewer communicate it well >>. 

FATTORIA DEL COLLE A TREASURE CHEST OF VALUES TO PRESERVE

Tradition, history, nature, craftsmanship … Fattoria del Colle in the most panoramic and intact Tuscan countryside is dedicated to the preservation of these values

 

Orcia DOC Winery Fattoria del Colle

Orcia DOC Winery Fattoria del Colle

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

As some people may already know, I am an art historian who has become a grape grower. For this reason  I take the liberty of writing a little note on the concept of conservation and restoration. It is a very ancient practice but until the mid-twentieth century the works of art – especially paintings and architecture – were integrated with ruined parts and “updated” with respect to the fashion. In other words, they were “embellished” but substantially falsified. Cesare Brandi was the father of modern restoration that must not << commit an artistic forgery or a historical forgery, and without erasing all traces of the passage of the work of art over time >> in other words, conservation must safeguard the integrity of the works.

 

                                                                       
Cinelli Colombini
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.