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2026 CASATO PRIME DONNE AWARD

ON SEPTEMBER 19^TH IN MOTALCINO: AN AWARD DEDICATED TO WOMEN SHAPING THE FUTURE-LIKE SANDRA MISALE- AS WELL AS TO THOSE WHO PROMOTE BRUNELLO AND TO YOUNG TALENTS.

 

Sandra Misale, recipient the 2026 Prima Donna award, is one of the world’s leading cancer scientists; she studies the KRAS gene, which enables tumours to replicate and metastasize. “She has a laboratory named after her at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, yet she was born in Calabria 41 years ago and completed her studies in Italy. If patients with pancreatic, lung, or colon cancer can have hope today, it is also thanks to her,” explains Donatella Cinelli Colombini, president of the award.

2026 CASATO PRIME DONNE JOURNALISM AWARDS GO TO CIANCIO AND CUOMO

The 2026 Casato Prime Donne Award ceremony will also feature two Italian journalists who have effectively promoted Montalcino and its wines: Francesca Ciancio and Andrea Cuomo.

Francesca Ciancio wins the award in the “Montalcino and I” category for her article “Montalcino Beyond Brunello,” published in “Wine and Travel”. Ciancio is a professional journalist, video maker, creator of TV and web formats, content creator for wine industry companies, sommelier, and an instructor in Wine & Food

Communication. She began her career in Naples with “traditional” journalism before moving to a major publishing group, Class Editori. From there, she transitioned toward a more contemporary style of journalism, eventually specializing in the food and wine sector online.

Her article on Montalcino demonstrates “how, alongside Brunello, there exists a mosaic of production and stories that helps define the territory’s agricultural identity.”

The Consorzio del Brunello Award, presented by President Giacomo Bartolommei, is awarded to Andrea Cuomo for his article “Brunello di Montalcino: the 2021 vintage is fragrant, defined, and vertical,” published on “IlGiornale.it”.