Says Cheers to Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino Produced by Women Flagship - Casato Prime Donne #ItalianFWT

To celebrate the International Women’s Day on March 8th, I have invited #ItalianFWT blogger friends to write about their female protagonist in the Italian wine industry. With a little fascination but a lot of inspiration, I’m going to tell the story of Donatella Cinelli Colombini who owns the all-female run Casato Prime Donne winery in Tuscany. Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s version of female empowerment is not about making a political statement or novelty, but rather she truly believes that women’s knowledge, ability, determination, and persistence are success factors for a winery operation.

Over four centuries ago, Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors already owned Casato. In this century,  Donatella's grandmother passed Casato onto Donatella’s mother, who passed it onto Donatella in the late 1990s. Currently, Donatella’s daughter, Violante has inherited the winery. Since 1998, Donatella founded her own estate that comprises of Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda and Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini (Photo Credit: https://www.cinellicolombini.it/en/)

Shortly after her rebranding, she was searching for staff in Siena’s enology school and noticed those female students were abundantly available due to the industry’s unfair preference of male graduates over females. Taking these young female enologists under her wings, Donatella was rewarded with determination and hard work from these women. The number of women in Donatella’s estate is very high. In fact, the Casato Prime Donne winery is entirely run by women, a unique phenomenon in the whole of Italy. The rest of the team is made up of competent and ambitious men and women who take care of tourist hospitality, restoration, tender grapes in the vineyards, and manage the entire winemaking cycle from start to finish.

Talented Female Crew (Photo Credit: https://www.cinellicolombini.it/en/)

My bottle of Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino 2016 (SRP$23.99) comes from the Casato Prime Donne. This estate is made up of 40 hectares in which 17 hectares are taken up by Sangiovese vineyards and the winery for the production and ageing of the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino wines. Rosso di Montalcino, released after ageing for one year, is the “younger brother” of Brunello di Montalcino which must be aged a minimum of four years - two years in barrel before release and once released, typically it needs more time in bottle to max out its drinking potential.  

Drinking Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino is a real treat. A tad iron on the nose, this wine is textured, layered, complex and balanced. The dried plum fruit and mild acidity, these softer palates are intermingled with the oak, licorice and leather notes that are also present in the wine, making this wine balanced, elegant, velvety yet approachable. A simple pairing – a thick piece of store-bought pork terrine cold cut and a thick slice of tomato, atop a toast is all I need. Since the pork terrine was very mild-tasting, I added some French Dijon mustard - some tanginess and spiciness to the cold-cut. As I appreciate this wine, there’s no doubt in my mind that the women winemakers at Casato Prime Donne have done an exceptional job as the quality of the wine shows. What is truly inspiring is that, behind this wine label, there’s a safe place women winemaker can show their worth!

Let’s see what our friends say about their Italian female wine heroes:

• Cam at Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Crab and Cambozola-Stuffed Arancini + Poggio al Tesoro Solosole Vermentino 2018 #ItalianFWT
• Cam at Culinary Adventures with Camilla pairs Ribollita + Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino 2016 #ItalianFWT
• Lynn at Savor the Harvest introduces Women In Italian Wine: Meet Mateja Gravner #ItalianFWT
• Linda at My Full Wine Glass tells Punset wines: the story of one woman’s perseverance #ItalianFWT
• Marcia at Joy of Wine shows Tiberio: Passion For the Land & its Native Grapes #ItalianFWT
• Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm pairs Italian Roasted Chicken with a Gianni Brunelli Rosso di Montalcino #ItalianFWT
• David at Cooking Chat pairs Ground Turkey Bolognese with Wine from Anna Maria #ItalianFWT
• Susannah at Avvinare shows Spotlight on Vernaccia di San Gimignano and the Consortium’s New President - Irina Guicciardini Strozzi #ItalianFWT
• Jennifer at Vino Travels presents Italian Women in the Wine Industry Featuring Maso Martis #ItalianFWT
• Jeff at Food Wine Click! presents Italian Women in Wine - Cantina Marilina #ItalianFWT
• Deanna at Asian Test Kitchen says Don’t Judge a Wine by its Label unless it’s Mustilli #ItalianFWT
• Terri at Our Good Life presents Women in Wine: Meet Kelly from Twin Meadows Winery #ItalianFWT
• Gwen at Wine Predator introduces Women to Watch in Wine: Vigna Petrussa and VeroVino Part 1 #ItalianFWT
• Gwen at Wine Predator introduces Women to Watch in Wine: Vigna Petrussa and VeroVino Part 2#ItalianFWT
• Nicole at Somm’s Table shares Passion and Authenticity in Abruzzo: A Conversation with Cristiana Tiberio of Az. Agr. Tiberio(#ItalianFWT)
• Nicole at Somm’s Table shares Cooking to the Wine: Tiberio Pecorino & Saffron Chickpea Stew with Seafood #ItalianFWT
• Pinny at Chinese Food and Wine Pairings says Cheers to Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino Produced from Women Flagship - Casato Prime Donne #ItalianFWT