10 VINTAGES OF ORCIA DOC CENERENTOLA TOGETHER WITH FASHION, DESIGN, EVENTS, SONGS AND FILMS FROM THE SAME YEARS TO DISCOVER HOW WINE IS CULTURE AND A MIRROR OF HUMANITY

Donatella Cinelli Colombini and her daughter Violante transformed the presentation of the 2020 Orcia DOC Riserva Cenerentola into a true workshop centred on the concept of “wine is culture.” A new and stimulating experience that engaged 60 guests, including journalists and industry professionals.

We’ll try to understand if wine changes its interpretation of the vineyard like a great piece of music. To illustrate the concept with an example, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 has a different character whether the orchestra is conducted by Toscanini, von Karajan, or Muti. The score is the same, just as the grapes and terroir are the same, but the final result changes based on an interpretation of the historical moment.

On Monday, March 23, at the Fattoria del Colle di Trequanda, for the first time, the wine will be tasted alongside the civilization in which it was born, an experience that will likely open new horizons for wine storytelling.

The tasting includes 10 vintages: 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2018 of Orcia DOC Cenerentola, and the new 2020 Riserva, under the impeccable guidance of Ilaria Lorini, the first woman to be crowned Best Italian Sommelier (AIS) in 2025. From the first Italian wineries with an all-female staff, one could not expect anything different.

WINE IS CULTURE, AND WE’LL PROVE IT

The new aspect of the March 23^rd tasting of Orcia DOC Cenerentola comes when information on the climate, winemaking, and maturation of each vintage is complemented by the historical, musical, design, fashion, sports, and film events that characterize those same months.…

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The very small production run limits this wine’s audience to connoisseurs seeking exclusive bottles. In short, it’s a rare gem.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for over a year,” said Donatella Cinelli Colombini, without hiding her affection for the Cenerentola wine, which she considers one of the greatest successes of her professional life. “I believed in the native Foglia Tonda grape variety when it was on the verge of extinction, and I followed step by step the research for the right way to grow, harvest, and age it. I found winemakers who love it as much as I do—Valérie Lavigne and Barbara Magnani—and I made the Cenerentola DOC Orcia wine a true princess of winemaking,” she says, referring to the international ratings that award it scores between 91 and 94 out of 100.

“Producing an Orcia Riserva means showcasing Cenerentola’s excellent aging potential. The Sangiovese and Foglia Tonda grape varieties are genetically father and son. The former gives the wine elegance, the latter power. In the Fattoria del Colle terroir, at 400 meters above sea level, they find a particularly favourable habitat, producing elegant, powerful, velvety, and wines for cellaring.”

DOC ORCIA CENERENTOLA 2020 FROM FAIRY TALE TO WINE

Each magnum bottle will come in a white “royal case” with gold lettering that recalls the fairy tale from which the wine’s name originates.…

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It’s difficult to stand out in an international wine market overcrowded with bottles. Especially with a young appellation like the Orcia DOC, and even more so with a native grape variety abandoned for over a century.

This is why Donatella Cinelli Colombini is happy every time her Cenerentola wine achieves a good result, like the 92/100 awarded by Wine Spectator for the 2019 vintage.

The Orcia DOC was born on February 14, 2000, in the high hills of southern Tuscany, nestled between the Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano territories. Sandwiched between two important and famous sisters, the Orcia DOC is in a favourable position for vineyards but difficult to establish a commercial niche.

THE NAME CENERENTOLA INDICATES THE PRINCELY DESTINY OF THIS WINE

That’s why Donatella named her wine Orcia Cenerentola, betting on a native grape variety that almost no one cultivated anymore—Foglia Tonda—but which seemed to her an ideal partner for Sangiovese. The goal was to produce a wine with distinctive characteristics, capable of achieving success at the highest levels.  Therefore thanks to her passionate grape-growers and formidable cellar women, the training system, harvest timing, wine making technique, and barrel type were gradually perfected. A ten-year effort with stellar results at Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda.

Today, the Orcia Cenerentola DOC receives scores between 91/100 and 93/100 from the most important international press.…

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This offer is designed for your Christmas party planning. Three different magnums to enjoy during moments of conviviality with family or friends (last bottles available). These bottles will also be appreciated as gifts by collectors of fine wines.

🎁 Along with the bottles, you will find: a beautiful resin coaster directly from our Toscana Lovers stores and created by Riccardo Marzi.

What’s special about this offer?

The value of a magnum bottle of wine lies in its excellent ability to preserve and evolve the wine, thanks to less contact with oxygen and its ability to withstand temperature changes better than a standard bottle. In addition to the qualitative benefits, the magnum format offers a strong visual impact on special occasions and makes a surprising and memorable gift.

Cenerentola and Foglia Tonda

Two grapes are used to produce Cenerentola DOC Orcia: Sangiovese and Foglia Tonda, both native. Sangiovese is the main grape variety in Tuscany, and in the Orcia denomination, it must comprise at least 60% of the total. In Cenerentola, it accounts for approximately 65%. The Foglia Tonda grape variety is genetically a descendant of Sangiovese. It has been cultivated in Tuscany since time immemorial and is mentioned in 19th-century sources in the Chianti Classico region. Foglia Tonda vines have also been identified in Siena’s historic urban vineyards. It is a late-ripening vine that loves heat and tends to be overly fertile, so its cultivation is primarily aimed at limiting grape production.…

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2019, 2020 and 2021 are three very different vintages but of great quality. They show how global warming favours the vineyards of southern Tuscany despite the excessive heat and cold, drought and monsoon storms that characterize the new climate.

In fact, 2021 had started badly with a spring frost that, fortunately, only grazed the Fattoria del Colle but caused a drastic drop in temperatures preventing the birth of new shoots. There were therefore about 20 days of distance between the first leaves born at the beginning of April and those at the end of the month. The frost and the three summer months without rain produced a drastic decline in the bunches and the size of the grapes that, at harvest, resembled Pinot Noir more than Sangiovese. A cool September that became cold at night, offered the ideal conditions for a slow and regular ripening of the grapes. The result is a wine that combines power, freshness and longevity.

CENERENTOLA’S HOUSE AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

The grapes for the Cenerentola wine come from the organic vineyards at Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda, in southern Tuscany. 404 meters above sea level with a soil mainly composed of marine sands of Pliocene origin. The wine is a blend of two native vines, Sangiovese (65%), king of the Tuscan vineyard and Foglia Tonda (35%), an ancient variety, from the same region, that was abandoned until Donatella Cinelli Colombini fell in love with it.…

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Michael Godel is among the foreign wine critics who know Montalcino best. He often participates in Benvenuto Brunello and the Tuscan wine previews and has visited hundreds of wineries in this area. He loves Sangiovese but also greatly appreciates the Foglia Tonda variety for its acidic richness which makes the wines long-lived and fresh.

Our importer in Ontario, Bernard Stramwasser Les Sommelier sent us 11 sheets and 11 scores from Michael Godel on Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino, Leone Rosso Doc Orcia and 6 vintages of Cenerentola (based on Sangiovese and Foglia Tonda) from 2021 to 2001. They are published on Wine Align, the portal of the major Canadian wine experts.

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG 2020 SCORE 93/100

Godel appreciated this wine and the respectful way in which it was vinified and matured, allowing the vintage to express itself without intervening in the cellar. The result is a good richness of extracts and a natural balance.

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO PRIME DONNE 2020 SCORE 94/100

Brunello Prime Donne is selected during a blind tasting by a panel of 4 tasters, sommelier Daniela Scrobogna, wine expert Astrid Schwarz and two MWs: Madeleine Stenwreth and Rosemary George. The wine has more tannins than the other Brunello due to the French wood in which it matured. In Godel’s opinion it is a classic Brunello with good aging potential.…

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by #donatellacinellicolombini

For the first time, in many years, the ripening of the grapes was what winemakers dream of: the ripening of the pulp of the grapes (technological) and that of the skins (polyphenolic) occurred simultaneously and completely.

Average 13% alcohol, lignified seeds, small berries and bunches, good content of noble substances, acidity and PH just below perfection… And lots of grapes.

At the beginning of September no one was hoping for such a spectacular result, in fact everyone was pessimistic because the weather forecast was terrible.

CHRONICLE OF THE 2024 HARVEST: FROM PESSIMISM TO JOY

After 60 days of scorching temperatures in July and August, with temperatures of 37°C during the day and 22 at night, the vines are still. Veraison is slow and ripening does not seem to progress. Then the weather changes suddenly and a very rainy month begins: from early September to early October, around 200 mm of rain falls. It’s cold and at night the thermometer drops to 10°C.

Managing a climate of this kind is very difficult: you need a team of very good agronomists, grape growers and oenologists, excellent harvesting technology and a pinch of luck. We have all this and in fact we produce an amazing harvest.

We are lucky to have the vineyards full of small bunches, open with small grapes with thick and hard skins and therefore capable of resisting the rain.…

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by Donatella Cinelli Colombini #winedestination

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.…

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These are found in southern Tuscany, 404 meters above sea level. Here the  land is mainly composed of marine sands. Our vines are grown organically and harvested by hand. The grapes were vinified, aged in casks and refined in the Fattoria del Colle‘s cellar where all the cellar staff are women including the three winemakers Barbara, Sabrina and Giada.

In 2019, the rainy spring disturbed flowering, reducing the size and number of bunches. A favourable circumstance

for the Foglia Tonda vine which tends to be too productive and rejoices  when the climate helps it to find a balance.

Even the sunny September was very favourable: at the time of the harvest the grapes had very small, very healthy and perfectly ripe berries. The characteristics of the fruit are found in the wine which is particularly rich in colour and noble substances

DOC ORCIA CENERENTOLA FROM FAIRY TALE TO WINE

The Orcia denomination was established on February 14, 2000 in the high hills located between the territories of Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. A date and a location that contain something magical and something complicated. In fact, being born with two older and more important sisters made life difficult for the young Doc Orcia. It took courage, tenacity and stardust to get noticed by the princes of wine, as happened to the Cinderella in the fairy tale.…

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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.…

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A surprising result in a surprising year that asked the winemakers for  all their commitment. In spring they also worked on Sundays to keep the grapes healthy from the attacks of downy mildew triggered by the alternation between  rain and very hot days. Even the flowering was disturbed by the perturbations causing the reduction in the size and number of the clusters.

THE CRAZY CLIMATE OF 2018 A YEAR OF INCESSIVE RAIN

The number of rainy days in 2018 is impressive: 16 in January, 16 in February, 20 in March, 11 in April and 18 in May. The amount of rain was also impressive. At the end of May, the Fattoria del Colle was also hit by a “water bomb” which flooded the historic cellar where the barrels are located. After mid-August, an icy perturbation arrived that whitened the mountains and stiffened the cells of the grape skins.

2018 VINTAGE BLESSED BY THE SUN OF SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER

Meteorologists had predicted a sunny September but after a summer with an umbrella no one believed them.

Instead the sun came, giving a helping hand to the harvest. The vines were de-leafed in the “old way” and the calibre of the berries returned to normal and the accumulation of sugar gradually increased.…

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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.

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.…

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Cenerentola DOC Orcia is a family wine that Donatella Cinelli Colombini produces from the vines and in the cellar at Fattoria del Colle in southern Tuscany. This is an exclusive wine produced in small amounts.

It is obtained from grapes from two Tuscan varieties: Sangiovese and Foglia Tonda, the latter of which is very rare. This variety had been abandoned about a century ago and thanks to Donatella Cinelli Colombini, who 20 years ago began to cultivate it again, it has now become fashionable. It is in fact the Foglia Tonda that gives the Cenerentola wine a powerful and spicy character, and renders it different from all other wines.

12 bottles of Cenerentola Orcia Doc, six from the 2016 harvest and six from 2017.

The first vintage has been considered a “marathon runner” apt for long cellaring, the second is a  “sprinter” that is already at its best now and for the next three years.

Cenerentola 2016 has obtained ratings from the most important international wine: 91/100 from Robert Parker Wine Advocate; 93/100 from Wine Spectator and James Suckling. It is sold out.

Cenerentola 2017 has just been released and is available as a preview for you.

OFFER OF 12 BOTTLES OF CENERENTOLA DOC ORCIA

Six bottles of 2016 and six preview bottles of  2017

FOR MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

€ 285,00 instead of € 347,00 – exceptionally until November 3rd,

The discounted price includes shipping in Italy or a 20,00 euro discount on shipping abroad

FOR THOSE NOT YET MEMBERS OF DONATELLA’S CLUB

€ 315,00 instead of  € 347,00 exceptionally until November 3^rd.…

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THE 2017 CENERENTOLA DOC ORCIA HARVEST

This wine comes from the maddest vintage since the beginning of the century: at the end of April there was a spring frost that hit the whole of Europe. Our hills remained miraculously unharmed while in Spain or Sicily the young buds on the vines were burned.
But another danger was in stall: after a winter with few showers an African summer began, that at the beginning of August made the thermometers rise to 40°C. Bushes, hedges, streams without water and hoards of thirsty wild boar that ate the grapes still unripe to quench their thirst.
Those, who like us, practice an organic regime in agriculture, have had less problems of hydro stress in the vineyards because the vines, solicited to react spontaneously to the climate, have maintained an equilibrium abandoning part of the clusters that remained green and were later removed.
At the end the 2017 harvest has been the scarcest ever.
While the Sangiovese, main Tuscan variety, has suffered thirst and heat, the Foglia Tonda a local rare variety, carried out one of its best performances.

CINDERELLA FROM THE FAIRYTALE TO THE WINE

However there is a reason for this funny name, it is the similarity between the Cinderella fairytale and the Orcia Doc wine region.…

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by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

It is always difficult to shine next to a great star: it will be difficult for those running 100 meters after Usain Bolt, it has been difficult for all mathematicians after Albert Einstein and it is difficult for all entrepreneurs comparing with Jeff Bezos from Amazon.

It will be the same for the 2020 vintage. It cannot shine after a masterpiece of a vintage like 2019 even though it is one of the best vintages picked during the last 20 years, without doubt worthy of the 5 stars given to the best vintages in Montalcino.

THE 2020 COVID GRAPE HARVEST

Let’s go in order, by telling you in detail the harvest in the Covid year. The first with facemasks and the necessity to keep at a distance however had had contact, even indirectly with those found positive. It has been terrible to say to two grape pickers to because their kids class was in quarantine <<go home and you can’t come back until you have a negative swab>> and it has been difficult to say to our consultant wine maker Valérie Lavigne << if you cannot have a swab done before leaving France you must renounce in coming>>. The risk of contagion has created as lot of worry, many problems and however a much less joyous atmosphere than usual.…

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A vintage this 2016 to be framed: depth, complexity, and finesse, and  longevity, characteristics that only a slow ripening of the grapes can give to a wine.

The Sangiovese, main variety used in Cenerentola DOC Orcia (together with Foglia Tonda), produces grapes that are meteoropathic, so can go mad and ruin if the climate is adverse. Its skin is made up of few layers of cells so it needs the help of the sun to express itself at its best. For this reason in the high hills of Southern Toscana, where the climate is dry but cool, Sangiovese has its ideal habitat and reached levels of excellence impossible elsewhere in the world.

There were surprises regarding the harvest date too: the vines had sprouted a good 15 days earlier than usual, and everyone, including us, thought that the harvest would have been precocious one. On the contrary already when the veraison happened (changing of the colour of the grapes from green to blue) the calendar of the vegetation cycle was already aligned with the traditional one, then the ripening proceeded regularly and slowly. In 2016 for the first time in a long time, the clusters reached the time of harvest at  a snail’s pace with a mass of sugar in the berries growing slower than the poliphenolic ripening, that of the noble substances in the skins. …

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 What do the words DIVERSITY, IDENTITY, TIPICALITY? In an era of globalization these seem to have become more important but can they merge with the research for high quality?

1) Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Valerie Lavigne Identity and typicality define the personality of the wine. It is through them that wine is recognizable by its taste, taste that is the specific expression of one or more grape varieties grown in a given region. Without authenticity, there can be no diversity. Therefore the search for quality in my opinion is inextricably linked from the notions of authenticity, identity and therefore diversity.

2) Donatella Cinelli Colombin autochthonous varieties like Sangiovese, Foglia Tonda and Sagrantino. What have they to offer more or less of compared to the international varieties like Cabernet or Merlot

VLV Autochtonous grape varieties, when combined with the image of a great wine produced in this region, Brunello Sangiovese for example, are always cultivated at their northern limit, ie where there is always a little more difficult than elsewhere to get a full maturity. It is in these conditions that the grape expression is the most original and most inimitable either.
The international varieties like merlot, cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay, when grown in Bordeaux and Burgundy are at their northern limit. The aromas of these varieties, in these circumstances are very unique and identifiable.…

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