Donatella Cinelli Colombini Tag

28 January 2022

DIVERSIFYING WINE EXPERIENCES: PRICE AND TARGET 12

The definition of the new wine tourism experiences and their prices takes place within January because the tourist activities “are first sold and then produced”

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by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Wine experiences must be presented on the web site, to the press, on portals and to agencies by February, before the start of the season, even though fairs such as BIT in Milan or ITB in Berlin are suspended.

The wine tourism experiences by cellars must be declined with different prices and targets such as:

groups and families,
wine tourists,
lovers of food and wine,
great experts or VIPs eager for exclusive moments.

The profile of the visitors to the winery can help the construction of the tourist proposals by orienting them, for example, on the culture if the visitors are mainly women and on sport if the prevalence is male.

DIVERSIFY PROPOSALS BY PRICE AND TARGET

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Obviously, the creation of more sophisticated experiences also corresponds to a different cost that goes up to around € 100, in Italy, for the “premium” proposals that often involve the wine maker . The segmentation of proposals and prices is very present in American wineries that reach peaks of 6,000 Dollars per person for truly exclusive experiences. In principle, the demand and the price of the activities in the cellar have grown in all wine-growing areas around the world during the past two years.

All production companies can create unique and exciting tourist proposals, starting from their own characterizing elements.

11 January 2022

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne 2017

The Brunello Prime Donne 2017 is a small selection of 3.300 bottles, obtained by selecting grapes bunch per bunch in Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s vineyards

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To say that the grapes for this wine were chosen bunch by bunch is perhaps exaggerated but it is very close to the truth. It is an extreme selection, made by hand in a single day, employing over twenty people in the vineyard.

An accuracy that has given rise to an incredibly elegant and harmonious wine.
The Brunello Prime Donne 2017 has a “Mediterranean” character, will give its best as a young man and has the vigour of the hot vintage in which it was born.

BRUNELLO PRIME DONNE 2017

Donatella Cinelli Colombini was much undecided whether to use this Brunello to produce a Riserva or for the Prime Donne Selection. She submitted the question to the four super tasters who make up the tasting panel of Brunello Prime Donne. Due to Covid they could not meet in the cellar, as usual, and therefore they received the samples at home and gave a written response. They are two Masters of Wine, the English Rosemary George and the Swedish Madeleine Stenwreth, the wine shop owner Astrid Schwarz and the Sommelier Daniela Scrobogna. The 4 experts decided that this Brunello was worthy of becoming “Prime Donne selection” and that it represented the territory and the vintage well.

VINTAGE 2017

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2017 was characterized by two climatic events: a frost at the end of April that affected almost the entire European vineyard that miraculously left Montalcino untouched and a very hot summer with 10 consecutive days, in August, with a temperature of 43 ° C. This last event also touched the Brunello vineyard.

The organic cultivation of the vineyards, the green manure, the frequent ploughing and the use of the foliage of the vines to shade the bunches have all contributed enormously to limiting the damage of the heat, demonstrating, once again, the great vocation of the territory of Montalcino and the advantage of respecting nature and limiting human intervention by letting the vines react independently, to climatic difficulties.

PRIME DONNE PROJECT

The Prime Donne Project was born in 1998 when Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s mother gave her the Casato Prime Donne winery to create her own Brunello production. It consists of four parts: the first Italian winery with an entirely female staff, the Brunello selected by a panel of female tasters, the award focused on new models of femininity and the path with quotes by the winners of the award and the works of art by Tuscan artists.

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

The Casato Prime Donne is a property of 40 hectares on the North Slope of the Montalcino hill, 230m above the sea on land of Pliocene origin characterized by sands and sea clays. This is the coolest side of the Brunello area where ripening is slower. The building, which houses the barrel area, was built at the end of the sixteenth century by the current owner’s ancestors and has around 17 hectares of vineyards cultivated with Sangiovese.

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

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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.

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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.

16 December 2021

in Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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WINE DOGS: THE IMPORTANCE OF ANIMALS IN WINE HOSPITALITY

Having a winery dog increases the attractiveness of tourist wineries and wine tourists with a leash are definitely multiplying. In half of the Italian houses there is an animal, often a wine dog

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Fattoria del Colle Violante Gardini in front of the Cancello Nero vineyard

Wine dog Felix with Violante Gardini Fattoria del Colle

A few years ago books on wine dogs began to come out and then those on wine cats becoming a real trend. The pioneer was the Australian photographer Craig McGill to whom we owe a sort of encyclopaedia of dogs from wineries around the world.

Together with his wife Susan Elliott, he has published books and posts about wine dogs and cats. The second edition of the book on dogs from Californian cellars contains over 120 portraits of the faithful furry friends – from thoroughbreds to mutts – along with short essays by Robert Parker Jr, Nick Ryan, Eve Bushman, Sam Neill and Max Allen. A true celebration of the role of dogs in wine production.

PUBLICATIONS AND REPERTOIRES ON WINE DOGS

In addition to books and calendars, there are Instagram accounts and Facebook pages about wine dogs. In California there are rankings of the most dog friendly wineries. A bestiary so numerous as to suggest that all US wineries have a dog and that it is almost more famous than the wine maker.

The Wine Spectator column has consecrated a liaison between four-legged furry friends and wine lovers. In 2021 subscribers to the famous American wine magazine received this announcement <<In the March 31 issue, on sale next week, we will highlight one of the best parts of the wineries that can be visited: their dogs>>. Well in November 2021 the dog section of the Wine Spectator already contained photos of 1570 readers’ dogs.

25 November 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2019 by Donatella

Rosso di Montalcino BIO (organic) from a 5-star harvest produced with artisan care at Casato Prime Donne, first Italian winery with an all-female staff

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<<In my experience as a wine producer, which is now very long, I remember only two other harvests like this: 2010 and 2016>> said Donatella Cinelli Colombini, commenting the 2019 vintage. A confirmation that Montalcino has had an increasing frequency of excellent vintages thanks to climate change that seems to benefit inland Tuscany.

THE ROSSO DI MONTALCINO 2019 AND THE MORE AND MORE FREQUANT 5 STAR HARVESTS

There are also other changes; contrary to the past, the great harvests of the new millennium, generally, are also abundant in grapes and the vineyards are still in vegetation during the harvest days.

Another feature of 2019 and of the other great recent harvests in Montalcino is the small size of the berries and bunches. <<It seems Cabernet>> the oenologist Valérie Lavigne told Donatella, visiting the vineyards to decide the harvest calendar. A comment that does not do justice to Sangiovese, king of Tuscan oenology, but that had a touch of truth in it because, in 2019, Sangiovese di Montalcino behaved exactly like the most famous French variety by immediately giving a lot of colour to the must.

THE SAME SANGIOVESE AND THE TWO DIFFERENT WINES FROM MONTALCINO

Sangiovese 2019 harvest 4 days later – Montalcino-Casato-Prime-Donne-Tuscany

Rosso di Montalcino comes from the same Sangiovese vineyards where Brunello is born. The grapes are chosen to become one of the two wines based on the component of alcohol, acids and polyphenols that must be more abundant for the type of wine destined for long aging. Very few vines have the extraordinary versatility of Sangiovese in producing excellent young wines and refined bottles to be cellared

But to obtain the two types of wine it is essential to harvest the grapes by hand by dividing the vineyards, according to maturation, into small areas, to be harvested, vinified and aged in barrels separately. An impressive job and a great attention to detail, but it’s worth it, the result is amazing.

11 November 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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IOsonoDonatella Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015

The Brunello that Donatella Cinelli Colombini gifted herself when she realized that her dream of creating a winery and a wine established in the wine world

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Donatella Cinelli Colombini tells of how she climbed her mountain leaving the comfort of a family of established Brunello producers to create an estate of her own <<in 1998 my parents gave me two properties to renovate in Tuscany, but at the beginning there were no cellars and the vineyards were to be replanted. My small team asked me “if someone calls what must we say” and I replied “you say that we are Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s estates >> a starting point that took her far.

At that time she had many doubts because she remembered her grandfather Giovanni Colombini’s advice <<never give your name to a company because when it is sold it is like giving your identity away>>.

DONATELLA GRANDE DAME OF BRUNELLO BUT ALSO PASSIONATE AND VISIONARY

But Donatella wanted to make it and doubts turned into opportunities because already in 2010 she was able to harvest a great Brunello and six years later she was invited to present the Riserva version, at the most exclusive tasting in the world, the New York Wine Experience.

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A dream come true and that had to be celebrated by transforming the recommendation of her grandfather into a proud statement “IOsonoDonatella” the “pasionaria”, the visionary one who focuses on women, the revolutionary one who opens the Italian cellars to tourists the Grand Dame of Brunello as Vinum has recently called her <<so this is the wine that talks about me>>.

A very small series is born with only her first name on the packaging that tells her past as an art historian and expert in medieval gold-smithing. On the glass bottle there is in fact a glitter shape that forms a ring with her gold logo in the centre as if it were a Gothic seal.
So far 4 vintages of Brunello IOsonoDonatella have been produced: 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015 because only the best harvests are used for these small selections of 600 or 1.300 bottles intended for an audience of enthusiasts looking for rare and high quality wines.

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

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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.

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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.

29 September 2021

in Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Crazy climate in the vineyards

2021 will be remembered by winemakers for frosts, floods, fires and Covid. A series of disasters and the obvious need to commit to defending the earth

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by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

The crazy climate is there for all to see: heat peaks even in Canada, immense fires and floods, frosts that run through Europe like tsunamis. If we fail to reduce the greenhouse effect and rebalance the climate, the earth will become a desert.

2021 VINTAGE WITH A CRAZY CLIMATE HITS ESPECIALLY THE FRENCH VINEYARDS

In the vineyards a first calculation of the damage is made.

The grapes are not yet all in the cellars and therefore anything can still happen but apparently the European wine region most affected by the meteorological excesses of this crazy 2021 is France.

The frost of 7-8 April also did damage to us in Italy, but in France it seems to have been of an impressive violence and, as in 2017, it hit most of the prestigious areas from Bordeaux to Burgundy, from the Rhone Valley to Champagne.

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FROSTS, FLOODS, HEAT AND MOULD: A VARIETY OF PROBLEMS IN FRENCH VINEYARDS

But there were also other problems because the heavy summer rains caused devastating floods and the high temperatures favoured the spread of mould forcing winemakers to fight every day to defend the grapes. The data of the Parisian Ministry look like a war bulletin: in Champagne half of the bunches have symptoms of late blight, in Alsace there have been attacks of both late blight and powdery mildew.

The “Service de la Statistique et de la Prospective” says that in Beaujolais, the Loire Valley, Charentes and the South-West there have been developments of “powdery mildew and sometimes black rot or botrytis depending on the Region”.

Provence, Languedoc and Roussillon, as in central-southern Italy, the vineyards have suffered from drought so the size of the bunches and berries is below average.

24 September 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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OFFER: 6 BOTTLES OF BRUT ROSE’ SPARKLING WINE

This is a classic method sparkling wine produced in only 1433 bottles. An elegant bubble for the whole meal and particularly suitable for Tagliolini with truffles

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Absolute novelty that you will be among the first to taste. For the first time Donatella Cinelli Colombini uses her Sangiovese grapes to produce a very small series of a great sparkling wine.

It was made with the 2018 grapes from the Fattoria del Colle. It combines the typical freshness of Italian sparkling wines with the gustatory intensity of bubbles that have a long aging.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini worked three years to create this sparkling wine under the direction of Josef Reiterer from the famous South Tyrolean winery “Arunda”.

To produce the brut rosé that we are proposing, a small vineyard has been chosen with particularly suitable Sangiovese vines that have been harvested by hand.

A dark and cold room (12 ° C) was built in the cellar at Fattoria del Colle where only the traditional pupitres were put and the manual remuage of the bottles took place. Turning the bottles you can see small white marks that served to the winemakers for this daily and careful operation.

SPECILA PRICE FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

6 bottles carton of Spumante Brut Rosè metodo classico (vintage 2018)

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Euro 257,00 (instead of Euro 301,00)

For those who wish to double buying 12 bottles, the price is even more convenient

Euro 495,00 (instead of Euro 602,00)

Free shipping in Italy or 15 Euro discount abroad.

16 September 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Spumante Rosè Brut Classic Method 2018 by Donatella

Donatella Cinelli Colombini presents her Spumante Rosé classic method made with only Sangiovese and thought of for the white truffle of the Crete Senesi

<<It is a great sparkling wine for meals, an exclusive excellence intended for lovers of Tuscany and the best fruits of the earth such as the white truffle from the Crete Senesi>> says Donatella Cinelli Colombini presenting the 2018 classic method rosé produced in only 1,433 bottles at Fattoria del Colle.

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<<Demanding wine lovers who are always eager for novelties will discover a wine of great personality and fineness. A small exclusive series that aims high>>. The Rosé Sparkling Wine by Donatella Cinelli Colombini: combines the typical freshness of Italian sparkling wines with the gustatory intensity of long-aged bubbles.

3 YEARS WORK TO CREATE THE NEW SPUMANTE ROSE’

Donatella Cinelli Colombini worked three years for this result, preparing a Sangiovese vineyard with different characteristics from those intended for the classic Tuscan reds << when Josef Reiterer told me to produce more grapes, for me it was a shock>> she says referring to the legendary creator of the sparkling wines “Arunda”, the South Tyrolean winery 1,200 meters above sea level, who supported her throughout the project as a consultant.

For the brut rosé by Donatella Cinelli Colombini a dark and cold room (12 ° C) was built in the cellar of the Fattoria del Colle. Investments but above all a lot of manual skills with the traditional pupitres where the bottles are turned day after day by the cellar staff of the first Italian winery with an all-female staff.

Spumante-Rosé-Brut-classic-method-pupitre-Fattoria-del-Colle-Donatella-Cinelli-Colombini

Even the packaging has an author’s touch with the label signed by Alessandro Grazi, Sienese painter of international fame. From the canvas of Pienza in the texture of the label, to the ecological coiffe, up to the capsule with the traditional dove symbol representing Donatella Cinelli Colombini and the screen-printed box, everything has been designed for a demanding, refined public that is eager for small exclusive jewels.

An audience that loves Tuscany and its traditions such as preparing effervescent wines for weddings and baptisms. A custom that this sparkling wine has respected since it was served in preview for the wedding of Enrico and Violante Cinellicolombini JR.

TECHNICAL SHEET OF THE SPARKLING WINE BRUT ROSE’ 2018

TYPE: Sparkling Rosé Classic Method Brut
VINTAGE: 2018

2 September 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Cenerentola Doc Orcia has succeeded in a divine way

The Doc Orcia Cenerentola 2017 has just received 92/100 from the Wine Spectator confirming a quality that remains very high every year

Cenerentola-doc-Orcia-2016

By Donatella Cinelli Colombni

It is always difficult to go over the 90/100 mark in the international press when the wine is from an emerging denomination. But it is even more difficult to get the wine tasted often and that it maintains, year after year, very high scores.

THE DOC ORCIA CENERENTOLA PRIZE LIST

Cenerentola Doc Orcia has succeeded.

From the 2010 harvest to today it has obtained stellar scores from Wine Spectator: vintage 2010 91/100, vintage 2013 90/100, vintage 2016 93/100, and vintage 2017 92/100.

Cenerentola-Doc-Orcia-92/100-Wine-Spectator

To this are added very positive ratings from Robert Parker-Wine Advocate, James Suckling, and Wine Enthusiast for a total of 10 reviews above 90 points in the last 5 vintages produced.

An amazing prize list for a wine of a denomination born in 2000 and still very small in size, such as the Doc Orcia, on which to attract the attention of critics is very difficult. It is an amazing result especially because the blend is brand new and combines Sangiovese with a minor native vine – the Foglia Tonda – resurrected from oblivion that was a century long.

The blend is different from the two grapes tasted in purity: making a comparison with fashion, the elegant and vertical prince grape of Tuscany makes you think of an Armani dress, while the Foglia Tonda, powerful and exuberant, recalls Cavalli or Dolce and Gabbana.

2 August 2021

in Forum: News and lifestyle

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Wines to be gifted

How men and women choose the gift bottle. Some useful advice depending on the recipient: environmentalist, glamorous, expert, experimentalist

Wines-to-be-gifted-Dom Pérignon Brut-the-ten-most-desired-Champagnes

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Let’s start with gender: there is a difference between women and men in their way of choosing a bottle to give away.

WINE TO BE GIFTED CHOSEN BY A WOMAN

The woman thinks << will he like it?>> and lets herself be advised by the store clerk , paying attention to the taste of the recipient and the type of situation that a given wine suggests in relation to the lifestyle of those who will receive the bottle. A woman tends to be more “sparing” than the man and therefore the value of the gift will almost certainly be lower.

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WINE TO BE GIFTED CHOSEN BY A MAN

A man, on the other hand, looks at the price <<does it cost enough for my boss?>> is his first thought. Then he focuses on naming, branding and scores in the guides. A man listens less to the sales people and looks more at the online ratings. He cares less about the packaging than the female customer but still needs the gift to present itself well.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PACKAGING OF A WINE TO BE GIFTED

For this wine single cases, bags, wooden boxes, gift boxes …. They are indispensable in every spot where wines are sold: from the cellar, to the wine shop, to the supermarket with a department with luxury products.
Go to Harrods in London and you will see how luxury bottles are packaged!
It must be said, however, that the great wines travel in the traditional 6-bottle wooden crates with a nailed lid. They are not beautiful but, after all, even the Rolls Royce does not have an incredible design but it is one of the greatest symbols of ancient wealth!

30 July 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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Five-star organic Chianti Superiore 2019

Organic Chianti Superiore from a 5-star harvest. A family wine: born from the vineyards and cellars at Fattoria del Colle

Chianti-Superiore-2019-BIO-Fattoria-del-Colle

This estate was built in 1592 by the ancestors of the current owner Donatella Cinelli Colombini who in twenty years has restored it to its former glory. Its altitude, of 404 meters on the sea, with cool nights, allows a slow and gradual maturation of the grapes. The farm is located in the south of Tuscany on a land of neo-quaternary age with sea sands and clays. The vineyards are on top of the hills in positions well exposed to the sun with excellent ventilation.

CHIANTI SUPERIORE 2019 BIO FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Chianti Superiore is a higher level type of Chianti: the grapes come from low yield vineyards and the wine is required to be of “superior” level as the name indicates.

2019-Harvest-at-Fattoria-del-Colle

The climate was particularly favourable in 2019. The very rainy spring, especially in April and May hydrated the soil allowing the vines to well withstand the heat of summer .There were only two major storms (1 July and 15 September) for a total of almost 200 mm of water. They were the magic touch needed for a masterpiece harvest. The 2019 grapes were perfect with very small, healthy bunches and berries, ripened in a very balanced way.

The strong thermal excursion of September 2019 determined the characteristic element of the wines of this vintage, that is the richness of the aromas.

2019 A MASTERPIECE OF A HARVEST WITH GREAT AROMAS

TYPE: dry red.
PRODUCTION AREA: Tuscany, Trequanda, Fattoria del Colle
VINTAGE CHARACTERS: Dry winter, very rainy April and May, hot summer interrupted by two thunderstorms. September with sunny days and almost cold nights that allowed a gradual maturation of the grapes and an extraordinary synthesis of the aromas.
VARIETAL: Sangiovese with small additions of grapes authorized in Tuscany.
HARVEST: manual harvesting with selection of clusters in the vineyard to pick only the grapes with the same level of ripening. This involved repeated passages in the same vineyards and allowed to vinify the entire production separately and optimally. In the cellar a further selection of grapes (mechanical and manual) was carried out on the sorting table.
VINIFICATION: healthy and ripe bunches. Very small calibre berries. Perfectly lignified grape seeds. Excellent Ph and extractable polyphenol content. Vinification was regular: 10 days of alcoholic fermentation followed by 15 days of maceration in contact with grape skins.
QUANTITY PRODUCED: 45.000 bottles.

9 July 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

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JULY OFFER FOR THE CLUB

Two cases containing 10 bottles of Super Tuscan white Sanchimento 2020 and 2 bottles of Passito di Traminer 2017 BIO, 2 custom drop stops and a manual on wine

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Extraordinary wines that transform your summer dinners into unique and unforgettable moments. These are two exclusive series: the white Sanchimento IGT Toscana Supertuscan is produced in 1800 bottles and the Passito in just 346 small 375 ml.

Together a small “brief handbook” manual for great wine lovers and 2 personalized drop stops will be sent to your home and will help you pour the wine into the glasses.

PASSITO 2017 A SUPER EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTION

Passito is a passion for Carlo, husband to the producer Donatella Cinelli Colombini, who personally cares for it. The 2017 vintage got 94/100 from Robert Parker Wine Advocate who appreciated the honeyed and very elegant taste of this dessert wine. The grapes for the Passito and white Supertuscan Sanchimento are produced in the small BIO vineyard of Traminer variety at Fattoria del Colle.

SANCHIMENTO 2020 SUPERTUSCAN WHITE FROM A 5 STAR VINTAGE

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Sanchimento Super Tuscan IGT bianco was born in the 2020 five-star harvest. Some of the grapes have been vinified by traditional method and part of them with orange- method which means in contact with grape skins and indigenous yeasts. Before bottling, the wine obtained with the two systems was combined to get a white with a golden colour and a complex and slightly mineral scent. In the mouth the wine is harmonious and surprisingly intense. It will fascinate you for its elegant character, it is fresh and at the same time rich.

OFFER FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

Price of 159 Euro (instead of 181 Euro)

For two cases containing 10 bottles (750 ml) of Sanchimento IGT Bianco Supertuscan 2020 and 2 bottles (375 ml) of Passito di uve Traminer 2017, 2 drop stops and a manual for wine lovers.

For those who want to double the purchase: 298 Euro (instead of 362 Euro)

30 June 2021

in Vines and wines

by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

0 Comments

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.

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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:

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DIVERSIFY PROPOSALS BY PRICE AND TARGET

BRUNELLO PRIME DONNE 2017

VINTAGE 2017

PRIME DONNE PROJECT

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

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

CASATO PRIME DONNE IN MONTALCINO

PUBLICATIONS AND REPERTOIRES ON WINE DOGS

THE ROSSO DI MONTALCINO 2019 AND THE MORE AND MORE FREQUANT 5 STAR HARVESTS

THE SAME SANGIOVESE AND THE TWO DIFFERENT WINES FROM MONTALCINO

DONATELLA GRANDE DAME OF BRUNELLO BUT ALSO PASSIONATE AND VISIONARY

HARVEST 2021- THE PATCHWORK HARVEST

BRUNELLO 2021 HARVEST

2021 VINTAGE WITH A CRAZY CLIMATE HITS ESPECIALLY THE FRENCH VINEYARDS

FROSTS, FLOODS, HEAT AND MOULD: A VARIETY OF PROBLEMS IN FRENCH VINEYARDS

SPECILA PRICE FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

3 YEARS WORK TO CREATE THE NEW SPUMANTE ROSE’

TECHNICAL SHEET OF THE SPARKLING WINE BRUT ROSE’ 2018

THE DOC ORCIA CENERENTOLA PRIZE LIST

WINE TO BE GIFTED CHOSEN BY A WOMAN

WINE TO BE GIFTED CHOSEN BY A MAN

THE IMPORTANCE OF PACKAGING OF A WINE TO BE GIFTED

CHIANTI SUPERIORE 2019 BIO FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

2019 A MASTERPIECE OF A HARVEST WITH GREAT AROMAS

PASSITO 2017 A SUPER EXCLUSIVE PRODUCTION

SANCHIMENTO 2020 SUPERTUSCAN WHITE FROM A 5 STAR VINTAGE

OFFER FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

Brunello 2015 Riserva 95/100 WS, Brunello and Brunello Prime Donne 2016 94/100 WS

Brunello 2015 and 2016 two vintages liked by all

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