Biography
Donatella Cinelli Colombini belongs to an historic family with centuries-old ties to the vine and to wine. She inherited two estates from family, one in Montalcino and the other a few kilometres to the north, at Trequanda, in that magnificent area of Tuscany called “Le Crete” of Siena. Donatella has directed the estates since 1998 and has found a way to transform them, joining modern technology to tradition, with a feminine vision both of the winemaking art and the marketing of the wines; annual production is 150,000 bottles and the wines are distributed in 25 different countries of the world. The Casato Prime Donne estate is located in northern part of Montalcino, on hillsides which slope gently towards the Orcia river, an old farmhouse surrounded by close to sixty acres of vines planted principally to Sangiovese Grosso. The cantina is very suggestive and the spaces in which the casks and barriques for the aging of the Brunello di Montalcino have been placed are decorated with frescoes which recount the history of Montalcino. But the estate has an unusual feature, unlike any other in the world: in addition to the owner, all of the employees are women, including the oenologist-cellar master, and their collaborative work gives a feminine touch to the wines of Montalcino. The other estate, in Trequanda, is Il Colle. It has belong to the Colombini family since 1592. Over 55 acres of vineyards produce Chianti DOC and Orcia DOC wines and, in addition, cereals, olive oil, and truffles. Country tourism is an important activity as well; comfortable rooms and a restaurant with tasty traditional food. Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s major wine is unquestionably the Brunello di Montalcino Selezione Prime Donne, a DOCG offering. A wine produced only in high-level vintages and which, before being bottled, is judged and approved by a group of expert female tasters, among them Maureen Ashley, Astrid Schwarz, Daniela Scrobogna and Marina Thompson. Another unusual wine is Cenerentola, an Orcia DOC and a blend of Sangiovese and an old Tuscan variety named “foglia tonda” for its round leaf, a grape which seemed doomed to disappear until it was saved by the joint efforts of old cultivators and researchers. The Rosso di Montalcino, soft and immediately pleasurable, and the forthright Grappa di Brunello are not to be overlooked either. Donatella Cinelli Colombini has also served as city counsellor in Siena.