Easter in Tuscany, discover fine wines
With the family, as a couple, with your four legged friends … Easter holidays on a farm to discover fine Tuscan wines and the sacredness of their territory...
With the family, as a couple, with your four legged friends … Easter holidays on a farm to discover fine Tuscan wines and the sacredness of their territory...
To pick a kilogram of saffron you need 150 thousand flowers. In medieval times it was used instead of gold and today it is used in the kitchens of the greatest chefs, but in Montalcino it is the main ingredient in the recipe for tripe
Arnolfo-ColleDiValD’Elsa-risotto with lemon, blue lobster saffron
By Donatella Cinelli Colombini
The name comes from Persia, Zaafran .In fact it comes from Asia and the southern coast of the Mediterranean, even though, for many centuries it has also been cultivated in Marche, Abruzzi, Sardinia, Umbria, Toscana and Basilicata.
It is the most valuable of spices.Around this flower there is a legend: Homer writes that saffron was a comfortable bed for Zeus, the old Romans used the flowers to cover the roads before the passage of prices and emperors.
It was also used for ministers’ headdresses for ceremonies, and for dyeing their robes.
saffron
For this reason too, apart from the quotations by Pliny and Ovid we are sure that the Romans knew of saffron, but its cultivation then was lost and began again in L’Aquila thanks to the Dominican Padre Santucci who imported it secretly from Spain.
Saffron is a crocus about 5 cm long from which generally three violet flowers with red stigmas. It loves dry climates and a sandy soil such as those in the Val d’Orcia dove where is has been grown since time immemorial.
The type that is most prestigious and desired by those who love good cuisine is the Crocus sativus which is sterile and reproduces only thanks to cloning.
It was selected in Crete by impassioned cultivators who were trying to better the production of stigmas.
IOsonoDonatella is a selection of only 1.000 bottles created by Donatella Cinelli Colombini for wine lovers who, like her, love a Brunello of great harmony and elegance.
IOsonoDonatella 2013 Brunello
The Brunello 2013 vintage started off with a low profile judged a 4 star vintage, but after the ageing in barrel has proven to be extraordinary in its complexity and finesse. In the IOsonoDonatella this characters show in its extraordinary elegance. This is in fact an exclusive “fine wine” apt for important occasion and as a gift, this wine is produced only during the best harvests and comes entirely from the Ardita vineyard. This is a plot of Sangiovese of about two hectares where the soil gives the grapes and wines an extraordinary finesse.
IOsonoDonatella 2013 Brunello
The IOsonoDonatella selection was created for the first time with the Brunello 2010 when Donatella Cinelli Colombini understood that her dream of making an exceptional Brunello had come true. A project that began in 1998 when she received from her mother Francesca, Casato Prime Donne on the Montalcino hill and began to renovate the winery. An impassioned grape grower’s dream that year after year has brought Donatella to obtain awards from all over the world
A short break at the end of the summer, or a weekend in autumn for a full immersion in the wines Brunello, Orcia and Chianti: September 1st-2nd and October 5-7th
Brunello Harvest and racking
This proposal during harvest and racking is for wine lovers who want to see how the wines are born but also for lovers of the countryside and of its harmonium landscapes, of its traditional cuisine, of a simple but elegant style of life
Donatella Cinelli Colombini proposes two experiences: the first should coincide with the white grape harvest and to the moment of first tastes of the red grapes. The second on the other hand should be when the Sangiovese grapes for Brunello and the clusters for Doc Orcia and Chianti Superiore reach the cellar. To see how these famous wines which get International consent are born, is an exciting experience that allows one to come into contact with nature and allows you to share the producer’s passion.
September 1st-2nd, two days one night pull of experiences that enrich with knowledge and emotions.
Brunello, Casato Prime Donne
Arrive on Saturday afternoon, tour the vineyards and learn about the technique of tasting grapes that allows grape growers to evaluate the ripening and to foresee the date of the harvest. Hoping in favourable weather and the cellar decisions, you should be able to take part in the phases of picking and preserving the Traminer grapes for the Passito. Then a tour of the winery with a tasting of 3 Brunello and then a 4 course dinner matched with four wines from Fattoria del Colle. Next morning transfer to Montalcino with own car to the winery Casato Prime Donne where our brave wine lovers with have a guided tour of the cellar and then a very technical tasting of Brunello from the barrel to understand the different charring and ages of the barrels, then they will taste the preview of the Brunello Riserva 2013 and then the Riserva 2012 to finally taste a Brunello of at least 10 years. Before leaving a nice walk around the vineyards will give new experiences in tasting the grapes and will make the drive back safer.
The Casato Prime Donne Award 2012 was given to Maria Carmela Lanzetta, Giorgio Dell'Orefice, Luciano Ferraro, Montalcino News and Gianfranco Bracci [caption id="attachment_7260" align="alignleft" width="275" caption="Journalists of Montalcino-News"][/caption] Monasterace is a town where a pharmacist married with two children, a normal woman, has become a modern hero. She is a mayor who has remained in place despite attacks and personal threats thereby becoming a symbol and a shining example for all women. This is our Prima Donna 2012, the star of our ceremony in Montalcino, which is taking place on Saturday, September 15th at 5pm in the Astrusi Theatre, together with Giorgio...
There are those of you who prefer to visit the wine cellar before you buy top quality wine such as Brunello Casato Prime Donne, therefore shopping in one of the specialist wine cantinas in Montalcino is a perfect way to spend your time [caption id="attachment_7203" align="alignleft" width="150"] Montalcino-Bruno-Dalmazio and Violante[/caption] Each year about one million wine tourists visit Montalcino, they are attracted by the reputation of the Brunello wine and are eager to return home with these prestigious bottles and important first-hand information from the wine producers themselves. To help them to [caption id="attachment_7202" align="alignright" width="150"] Montalcino-SergioPierangioli-in his wine cellar[/caption] visit the wineries, the Consortium of...
Take part to the grape harvest of Brunello wine and Chianti in the vineyards, in the cellar and sit at the table of Donatella Cinelli Colombini restaurant [caption id="attachment_7225" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="grape harvest at Fattoria del Colle"][/caption] An unique experience to discover how the great tuscan red wines such as Brunello, Chianti Superiore and Doc Orcia are produced. You will meet new friends, you will sleep in the houses of the ancient farmers and you will live a funny day between vineyards and cellars during the grape harvest with technical wine tasting and tasty dishes from Crete Senesi and Val d'Orcia. Sunday, before...
Here is the Rosso di Montalcino 2010 by Donatella Cinelli Colombini. Five stars (the top) but it actually deserved seven, like the new extra-luxury hotels [caption id="attachment_6458" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Rosso di Montalcino 2010 Donatella Cinelli Colombini"][/caption] The harvest went perfectly, like the one all grape growers dream of. An easy harvest too: the soil was well hydrated, sunshine at the right time and a final vegetative phase characterized by an accelerated maturation. The bush of leaves had aged too soon and so we had vines with grapes not completely changed in colour, from green to blue, and with autumnal leaves. It is...
As I was driving along the road, a few miles away from the Fattoria dalla Colle, I saw two children and a very tall man who were searching for pine nuts under a tree alongside the road. I said to myself “How strange! It is years since I have seen children searching for pine nuts like that”. Then I noticed that the car had a Swiss number plate and then I understood. In the Swiss Alps you cannot easily collect edible pine nuts from the trees so for this family searching for pine nuts is like the equivalent of us Tuscans being excited about being able to pick bananas straight from the trees in Egypt. It is a totally new experience.
I kept pondering and reflecting about this image and after a while it occurred to me how much growing up as a child in Tuscany has changed since I was young, even in the most simple little things such as this. Today there are so many video games and other distractions which encourage children to play insided, away from the Natural environment which surrounds them.
Before it wasn’t like that. In the Summer when I was a child I used to spent the entire afternoon with my friends collecting pine nuts and then crushing them on the wall. As a child I was almost addicted to the consumption of these pine nuts. My grandmother was so worried about how many I ate that she made someone cut down all the pine trees and made them take them away. Luckily after a few years I forgot all about them.
“Traveller” UK from the “Condé Nast” editorial group, so as if to say, the queen of tourism magazines, in the May 2011 edition has published the 10 most beautiful wineries to visit in Toscana and Umbria, ours are in third position. ...