Sangiovese Tag

CENERENTOLA ORCIA DOC 2021 BIO

THIRD GREAT VINTAGE IN SUCCESSION, 2021 IS CHARACTERIZED BY A SHORTAGE OF GRAPES CAUSED BY A SPRING FROST AND A SLOW RIPENING

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.

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

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

2 January 2025

BRUNELLO RISERVA 2019 ORGANIC CASATO PRIME DONNE

THE 2019 VINTAGE SEEMS BORN TO CHALLENGE TIME AND TO BECOME BRUNELLO RISERVA. GRAPES SO PERFECT THAT NEEDED ONLY PATIENCE

There are vintages that seem born to produce wines capable of defying time and 2019 is one of them.

These are the harvests in which the grapes arrive in the cellar so perfect that they don’t need anything, just attention and patience.

Brunello 2019 is celebrated by critics and consumers as one of the best vintages of the last 20 years and in the Riserva version it finds its most enthusing expression for the silky harmony that hides a powerful structure.

Contrary to what usually happens in the best harvests, 2019 was abundant. A circumstance that also occurred in the legendary 2010 vintage and reveals how global warming has changed the internal balance of plants. In both of these vintages the vines were still in vegetation at the time of the harvest. This is also a rare but very favourable feature.

28 November 2024

BRUNELLO RISERVA 2018 IN THE TOP 10 BY VINUM

NEW SUCCESS FOR BRUNELLO RISERVA 2018 BY DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI , AMONG THE TOP 10 CHOSEN BY VINUM MAGAZINE AND THE GREAT CHRISTIAN EDER

Vinum top 10 Brunello Riserva 2018 di Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Vinum top 10- Brunello Riserva 2018 by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Vinum is the most important wine magazine in German. This magazine often dedicates monographic issues to a region with profiles of characters and tastings. In this case the protagonist of the magazine is Tuscany. Violante Gardini Cinelli Colombini newly elected President of the Movimento Turismo del Vino – Wine Tourism Movement is among the profiles described at the beginning while our Brunello Riserva 2018 is among the 10 TOP wines of this type.

VINUM AND CHRISTIAN EDER

As always, the scores are not very high, German culture is always sparing in its judgments and does not reach 1000/100 with the same enthusiasm as American critics. For Germans, perfection is a philosophical concept that almost requires something close to a miracle.

For this reason, the TOP 10 of Brunello Riserva 2018 are between 96 and 94 out of 100, that is, closely positioned. Overall, the best Brunello Riservas proposed by Vinum are 25 and three of them come from the area where Casato Prime Donne is located. A circumstance that demonstrates the growth in the qualitative potential of this corner of Montalcino which, twenty years ago, was too cool and now manages to express itself at a high level even in rainy years like 2018.

7 November 2024

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG 2020 ORGANIC

FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE MONTALCINO VINEYARDS LINE UP THREE 5 STAR HARVESTS ONE AFTER THE OTHER. 2020 IS PERHAPS THE ONE WITH THE GREATEST HARMONY AND INTENSITY

A circumstance that has never happened before which confirms the extraordinary vocation of the Brunello area for the cultivation of Sangiovese, its only grape variety. The favourable effect of the new climate which multiplied the excellent harvests was also confirmed.

However, 2019 and 2020 have different characteristics that enthusiasts will be able to enjoy comparing.

2020 A YEAR AND A BRUNELLO TO REMEMBER

In 2020, the year of Covid, there was a spring frost (18-23 March) which drastically reduced the grapes in the vineyards.

After a mild and arid winter, June was very rainy while from mid-July to the end of August the heat was never interrupted by storms. The good weather continued in September until the harvest when the disturbances began to arrive. The rain circled around leaving Casato Prime Donne dry until September 25th when the harvest was almost completed. That day there was a real downpour but, fortunately, almost all the grapes were already in the cellar.

The 2020 Sangiovese grapes were perfectly ripe, healthy, with well-lignified seeds, small berries and the typical crunchiness of great vintages.

10 October 2024

BRUNELLO HARVEST 2024, A MASTERPIECE

PLENTIFUL WONDERFUL GRAPES WITH OLD STYLE RIPENING WHICH, THANKS TO THE WEATHER FORECAST AND HARVEST TECHNOLOGY, ARRIVED IN THE CELLAR IN PERFECT CONDITIONS

by #donatellacinellicolombini

Brunello-Montalcino-vendemmia-2024-casato-prime-donne

Brunello-Montalcino-harvest-2024-casato-prime-donne

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.

30 August 2024

OFFER: TWO ORGANIC 2022 FAMILY WINE PREVIEWS

Receive 2 bottles of Rosso di Montalcino 2022, 2 bottles of Chianti Superiore 2022 and 1 Magnum Rosso Montalcino 2022 at home for €112.00

NEWS ON THE EXCELLENT VINTAGE 2022

Few very good and healthy grapes due to the 2021 frost which extended its effects into the following year, and also

New monthly offer with Rosso di Montalcino 2022 e Chianti Superiore 2022

due to the seven months of drought which put the vines and the winemakers to the test, as they were forced to continuously hoe the earth. 2022 will be remembered as the year of drought and tannins and it was also a very hot year where budding occurred early, also leading to an early harvest compared to the normal calendar. The small caliber of the grapes and their thick skins have allowed the creation of very structured and long-lived wines. The very favorable relationship between the skin and the juice of the grape has produced an exceptional concentration of noble substances and above all of tannins in the wine. For this reason, the vinification was very delicate and the maceration in contact with the skins was prolonged.

THE 2022 VINTAGE OF ROSSO DI MONTALCINO FROM CASATO PRIME DONNE

The result is a powerful and sunny Rosso di Montalcino, like the heat of summer 2022, but also with a surprisingly fresh sip thanks to the perfect acid content of the grape.

4 April 2024

A SMALL SERIES OF 3000 NUMBERED BOTTLES OF BRUNELLO

DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI PRESENTS A SMALL SERIES OF BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2018 FROM THE CASATO PRIME DONNE WINERY WITH GREAT QUALITY AND AGING POTENTIAL...

1 March 2024

ROSSO DI MONTALCINO ACCOLADES FROM CRITICS AND CONSUMERS

FIRST THE HIGHEST SCORE FROM THE AIS SOMMELIER GUIDE VITAE AND NOW THE 92/100 FROM MICHAEL GODEL CANADIAN SUPER TASTER, ROSSO DI MONTALCINO 2021 IS A STAR

Incredible! Donatella Cinelli Colombini‘s Rosso di Montalcino 2021 continues to obtain awards from the most qualified tasters and steals the show from Brunello.

The commercial success is confirmed by super experts who emphasize the drinkable and at the same time elegant character of a young wine but capable of showing the world-class virtues of Sangiovese from Montalcino.

For Donatella Cinelli Colombini it is a great satisfaction because Rosso di Montalcino is a wine made by her winemakers alone, without external consultants. Donatella’s wineries – Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda – are the first in Italy with an all-female staff and pride themselves on always seeking faithful interpretations of the terroir and vintage. A “light oenology” as Professor Luigi Moio defined it, which leaves nature a leading role and the cellar staff the task of preserving the gifts of the vineyard without changing anything.

Here a super harvest like 2021 reveals its merits in the Rosso di Montalcino which heralds a great Brunello from the same vintage.

So, let’s go and see the reviews

1 January 2024

BRUNELLO RISERVA 2018 BY DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI

2018, a twentieth century style harvest with the grapes for the Brunello Riserva harvested last to capture every ray of sunshine and to pick very small bunches and berries

Brunello riserva 2019 Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Brunello riserva 2018 Donatella Cinelli Colombini

The Brunello of this vintage is characterized by a particular richness of aromas thanks to the cold nights of the entire maturation period and by the evident vocation for long aging.

2018 follows a year of extreme heat and therefore everyone welcomed the insistent spring rains with joy. In fact, the storms continued, making the winemakers work a lot and worrying the cellar staff because the bunches, and especially the berries, were too big. Furthermore, a disturbance of Nordic origin at the end of August had stiffened the grape skins. In September the positive turning point: sunny days made the grapes return to their optimal size, progressively softening the skins. To favour the action of the sun, the vines were stripped. The Sangiovese grapes for the 2018 Brunello Riserva were harvested on October 1st.

HARVEST AT CASATO PRIME DONNE AND THE ROLE OF THE GRAPES PICKED FOR THE RISERVA

It is worth explaining how the harvest is planned at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino. The vineyards surround the winery. They are on 4 different types of soil and with different exposure.

7 December 2023