Trequanda Tag

CHIANTI SUPERIORE DOCG 2022

TO HAVE THREE EXCELLENT HARVESTS ONE AFTER THE OTHER IS A VERY RARE FACT BUT IN 2020, 2021 AND 2022 IT HAPPENED WITH THE LATTER BEING THE MOST SCARCE AND HIGHEST QUALITY OF ALL...

29 July 2024

WINE TOURISM DOES NOT REGARD ONLY WINE

LANDSCAPES, SPORTS, MONUMENTS AND CITIES OF ART, TYPICAL GASTRONOMY AND OF COURSE WINERIES WITH THE HOPE OF PARTICIPATING IN EXPERIENCES DIFFERENT FROM ALL THOSE HAD BEFORE

Animazione turistica Fattoria del Colle sala che insegna ad ascoltare le vigne

Wine Tourism- Listening to the vineyards- Fattoria del Colle

We have always known that wine is not enough to generate wine tourism flows. We need a suggestive landscape, typical gastronomy and the presence of people with whom we can establish a relationship. More recently, with the exponential increase in tourist wineries (25,000), the most critical element is the proposal of experiences that are too similar to each other. In 96% of wineries, visitors visit the vat room and barrel room with an explanation of the production process followed by a tasting. It is only the size and importance of the latter that varies. This is why Roberta Garibaldi tells us that 66% of visitors think that the experiences in the cellar are all similar and there is a real risk that they will get bored.

But offering different experiences capable of teaching while having fun is possible, Donatella Cinelli Colombini shows us how.

TAILORED EXPERIENCES FOR EVERY TYPE OF WINE TOURIST

Identity, authenticity and diversity are the three key words. Donatella Cinelli Colombini invites you to her wineries at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and Fattoria del Colle in the Orcia DOC region to participate in unique and memorable experiences designed for different visitor targets.

7 December 2023

CHIANTI SUPERIORE DOCG 2021

CHIANTI SUPERIORE 2021 FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE A FAMILYWINE FULL OF TUSCAN ELEGANCE AND YOUTHFUL ENERGY THAT PUTS FLAVOUR IN EVERY SIP

Chianti Superiore 2021 DOCG Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Fattoria del Colle was very lucky in 2021: it was saved from the frost and hailstorms that hit many parts of the Italian and Tuscan vineyard.

A great fortune that the winemakers of Donatella Cinelli Colombini wineries wanted to live to the full by making a harvest with attention to every detail. The year was called the “puzzle harvest” because the vineyards were divided into small areas based on the ripeness of the grapes. The harvest calendar was built according to the maturation of each portion, ensuring that the small fermentation vats in the cellar were full every evening. A method that entailed greater costs, more staff and more time due to the constant movement from one vineyard to another. The result is greater respect for the fruit, which is always picked at the moment of its maximum potential and an increase in the quality of the wines.

1 June 2023

By Donatella Cinelli Colombini

NEWS FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Camera dei Vignaioli, restoration of the panoramic swimming pool, starry sky for wedding dinners … many small things to add charm to Fattoria del Colle

Piscina panoramica prima del restauro Fattoria del Colle

Panoramic swimming pool before the restoration Fattoria del Colle

In truth, the Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda, in the most beautiful Tuscan countryside, is loved because it hasn’t changed, because those who come back after twenty years find their memories …. However, updates are essential to keep alive a small hamlet with four hundred years of history. And here is the news for 2023.

CAMERA DEI VIGNAIOLI

The Vignaioli room is located on the ground floor in the building formerly called Podere Ginestreto and built over two hundred years ago. Externally it has two large brick arches over the lane which crosses the Fattoria del Colle and is now used for outdoor seating. Presumably in the past it was a stable or a warehouse for carts, plows and other agricultural implements. More recently it has been used as a canteen for the winemakers who cultivate the most precious things on the farm: the Sangiovese vines. This is why it is called the Grape growers’ room. It is furnished with a small sofa, a chest of drawers and an authentic antique wardrobe that give a lived-in feel to this room, restored in 2023 and equipped with air conditioning and Wi-Fi.

As is well known, Tuscany protects historic buildings and landscapes. For this reason, the restoration of the Camera Vignaioli was a real puzzle and only after many attempts did the definitive project arrive. One of the arches was reduced (the other had already been closed in the past) using ancient bricks and this made it possible to create an entrance to the bedroom and bathroom. The result seems very trendy with the shower cubicle separated from the bathroom, but, in reality, it derives from the need to respect the existing volumes.

27 October 2022

in Farm experiences

LOTS AND VERY GOOD OLIVE OIL 2022

Trequanda celebrates the new oil and Fattoria del Colle brings to the table the first olive pressing in 2022. Tuscany grows in quantity and quality compared to 2021

Olives-harvest-2022-Fattoria-del-Colle

The festa dell’Olio Novo is back in Trequanda this year together with applause for the newly elected Senator Silvio Franceschelli, Mayor of Montalcino, who told us “the inhabitants of small towns have the right to have the same opportunities as those who live in the city”. A political program that we agree with. The third reason for celebration a visit from my friend and great oil expert Antonietta Mazzeo. She dined with us together with the surprise guest Massimo Rossi, AIS delegate from Arezzo and 40 exuberant aspiring American writers.
Fattoria del Colle and the medieval village of Trequanda are at the centre of one of the best Italian production districts for extra virgin olive oil.

TRACEABILITY OF THE OIL

The Olio Novo festa is an opportunity to learn something about the healthiest fruit on earth. In the Tracoil Conference I listened to Professor Stefano Loppi and Doctor Martina Grattacaso explain how the area of origin leaves a trace in the oil that resembles a fingerprint. The parameters examined are three: the composition of the soil, the chemical analysis of the oil and the isotope ratios. The Valdichiana markers are calcium, nickel and strontium. As for fatty acids, the comparison between our extra virgin olive oil and Portuguese oil shows in the latter, the presence of many fatty acids in small quantities while the foreign sample highlights a smaller number of acids with higher concentrations. Overall, the study, which will soon be completed with the analysis of isotopes, shows how it is possible to trace the origin of the Valdichiana extra virgin olive oil, safeguarding it from those who pass off a foreign oil as Tuscan.

30 July 2021

in Vines and wines

Five-star organic Chianti Superiore 2019

Organic Chianti Superiore from a 5-star harvest. A family wine: born from the vineyards and cellars at Fattoria del Colle

Chianti-Superiore-2019-BIO-Fattoria-del-Colle

This estate was built in 1592 by the ancestors of the current owner Donatella Cinelli Colombini who in twenty years has restored it to its former glory. Its altitude, of 404 meters on the sea, with cool nights, allows a slow and gradual maturation of the grapes. The farm is located in the south of Tuscany on a land of neo-quaternary age with sea sands and clays. The vineyards are on top of the hills in positions well exposed to the sun with excellent ventilation.

CHIANTI SUPERIORE 2019 BIO FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Chianti Superiore is a higher level type of Chianti: the grapes come from low yield vineyards and the wine is required to be of “superior” level as the name indicates.

2019-Harvest-at-Fattoria-del-Colle

The climate was particularly favourable in 2019. The very rainy spring, especially in April and May hydrated the soil allowing the vines to well withstand the heat of summer .There were only two major storms (1 July and 15 September) for a total of almost 200 mm of water. They were the magic touch needed for a masterpiece harvest. The 2019 grapes were perfect with very small, healthy bunches and berries, ripened in a very balanced way.

The strong thermal excursion of September 2019 determined the characteristic element of the wines of this vintage, that is the richness of the aromas.

2019 A MASTERPIECE OF A HARVEST WITH GREAT AROMAS

TYPE: dry red.
PRODUCTION AREA: Tuscany, Trequanda, Fattoria del Colle
VINTAGE CHARACTERS: Dry winter, very rainy April and May, hot summer interrupted by two thunderstorms. September with sunny days and almost cold nights that allowed a gradual maturation of the grapes and an extraordinary synthesis of the aromas.
VARIETAL: Sangiovese with small additions of grapes authorized in Tuscany.
HARVEST: manual harvesting with selection of clusters in the vineyard to pick only the grapes with the same level of ripening. This involved repeated passages in the same vineyards and allowed to vinify the entire production separately and optimally. In the cellar a further selection of grapes (mechanical and manual) was carried out on the sorting table.
VINIFICATION: healthy and ripe bunches. Very small calibre berries. Perfectly lignified grape seeds. Excellent Ph and extractable polyphenol content. Vinification was regular: 10 days of alcoholic fermentation followed by 15 days of maceration in contact with grape skins.
QUANTITY PRODUCED: 45.000 bottles.

1 July 2020

in Farm experiences

We are open, come and have dinner at Fattoria del Colle

Dining is a cultural experience other than being a great pleasure. At Fattoria del Colle it becomes a melody of flavours, images and great wines

Pears cooked in wine – Fattoria del Colle Restaurant

Donatella Cinelli Colombini has collected recipes from housewives in and around Trequanda even before opening the Fattoria del Colle. For the same reason, she has a vegetable garden with lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, Aglione … as well as tarragon, and many types of mint, sage and rosemary …

FINE WINES OF CASATO PRIME DONNE AND FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Obviously the strong point of the Fattoria del Colle restaurant is that the wine comes from the two wineries: Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino and the same farm where we make the Chianti Superiore, Supertuscan and Doc Orcia Cenerentola, the latter is becoming a real star in the wine world. The wine list is made up of around 15 preferences including a sparkling wine, a white and a rosé. Those who might think that using wine as a restaurant’s key strength, do not consider that the menu has been constructed to exalt the flavours in the glass and that it is possible to change the wine matched to each dish or something really extraordinary, choose a Brunello vertical tasting selecting from 23 vintages and more than 50 labels between Brunello Riserva, Prime Donne selection and regular Brunello.

Farmhouse-in-Tuscany-Restaurant-Fattoria-del-Colle

If the notes from the glass were not to be sufficient, there are always the explanations from the staff or from the chef Alessandro Sironi who is a sommelier.

MENU’ FULL OF HISTORY, TRADITION AND TASTE

The menu concentrates on daily proposals that offer authentic experiences from the Sienese countryside: 6 small servings that alternate bread soups with pinci, noble meats such as Chianina beef, or Cinta Senese pork with vegetables from the vegetable garden, traditional dishes such as the Mantovana, Panforte and pears cooked in wine together with more modern suggestions such as the Semifreddo di Mantovana. Tuscan recipes and ingredients often from farm to table. The list of dishes is a little more austere than previously, but all the same it is able to charm and express the culture of the territory even more than before.

15 June 2020

in Forum: News and lifestyle, Vines and wines

DOC ORCIA BIO LEONE ROSSO 2018

The first organic DOC Orcia Bio wine made by Donatella Cinelli Colombini is the Leone Rosso 2018, practically a Supertuscan made with Sangiovese and Merlot

Orcia DOC 2018 Leone Rosso Fattoria del Colle Donatella Cinelli Colombini

A RAMPANT LION AND DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI’S ANCESTORS

The name of the wine and the rampant lion on the label come from Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors’ coat of arms. This family in 1592 built Fattoria del Colle where this wine is born. This was an old and rich Tuscan family, mostly jurists and philosophers; they were then called Socini or Sozzini. The names of two Socinis, Lelio (1525-1562) and Fausto (1539-1604) are written in philosophy books as they were free thinkers and against the Church and, because of their writings regarding the Trinity dogma. Unfortunately their creed made them famous but also made them poor because they ended up being excommunicated and all their properties confiscated. Fattoria del Colle became once again property of this family only in 1919 when it was bought by Donatella’s grandfather Livio Socini.
Still today the family blazon, the rampant lion, is visible upon the entrances and on the ceilings of the Colle villa.

1 June 2020

in Farm experiences

Fattoria del Colle reopens Country Inn and Restaurant

In the part of Tuscany where fine wines come from, where Covid-19 practically has never arrived, Donatella Cinelli Colombini reopens and renews the tourism activities from July 1st

Fattoria-del-colle-roast-suckling-duck-breast-Cenerentola

Fattoria del Colle Restaurant – Roast suckling duck breast with Cenerentola wine

Fattoria del Colle in Trequanda, a municipality where there have been no cases of Covid-19, and Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino, where those infected have been just a handful, thanks to a Sangiovese in a patron saint version, these are the locations where Donatella Cinelli Colombini, from July 1st, expects tourists and wine lovers.
She wants to offer them fun and regenerating holidays, or just a few hours rest, immersed in the beautiful and uncontaminated landscape, tasting wines of extraordinary quality.

COUNTRY INN STAYS AT FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Holidays in apartments and rooms with private and equipped outdoor area to eat out-of-doors. Weekly stays, but also 2 nights stays with two dinners and wine tastings. To sanitize against Covid-19, medical-surgical products and a hydrogen peroxide system are used.

Fattoria del Colle the evening by the pool

For safety reasons daily cleaning cannot be done in the apartments and rooms, so they must we considered self care/self-catering with just a daily supply of clean linen.

PARKS, SWIMMING POOL AND HIKING

Fattoria del Colle has a total surface of 336 hectares and consequently offers wide spaces to regenerate out in the open air. There are 3 equipped parks where to sunbathe, admire the panorama and enjoy the quiet of the countryside, 1 swimming pool, 3 signposted hiking trails, where one discovers nature, a special trail dedicated to the vine. Loungers, deckchairs and outdoor tables, children’s games are all sanitized and distant to guarantee guests’ safety.

27 April 2020

in Forum: News and lifestyle, Vines and wines

Organic Chianti superiore 2018 from Fattoria del Colle

This is the first organic Chianti Superiore made at Fattoria del Colle. It is enriched with aromas thanks to the cold nights and hot days in September.

CHIANTI SUPERIORE 2018 FROM FATTORIA DEL COLLE

Chianti Superiore 2018 is a family wine, hence a wine that is born in Fattoria del Colle, that was founded in 1592 by Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors. This estate has a history more than 400 year old, in the vineyard and in the wines.

Chianti Superiore Bio 2018

This region in Southern Tuscany, at 404 m above sea level, in a territory particularly apt for the production of red wines. It borders with the Chianti Classico, Brunello and Vino Nobile wine regions. The soils are of neo-quaternary origin composed of sand and marine clays. These vineyards were planted on the top of the hills, because well ventilated and well exposed to the sun.

The 2018 vintage was a scarce one because of the frost during the previous year and because of the rainfalls that during the spring disturbed the flowering. In the month of May the showers were particularly frequent and there was also a cloudburst that flooded the winery.

Luckily in September the climate was ideal for the production of great wines, with its cold nights and sunny days, so the grapes size was reduced, and as a result increased the synthesis of the perfumes of the grapes and finally in the cellar we received sound and ripe clusters with a good content of extractable polyphenols

2018 harvest at Fattoria del Colle

The Chianti Superiore is a type of Chianti of higher level, because of the quality of the wine and because of the provenance of the grapes from vineyards that do not produce much.

DESCRIPTION OF THE CHIANTI SUPERIORE DOCG 2018

Type: dry red.
Production area: Trequanda, Toscana, Fattoria del Colle.
Vintage characteristics: the spring was very rainy; the summer was cool with frequent storms. The veraison concluded within the month of August. September was dry with great diurnal temperature variation.

4 March 2020

in Farm experiences, Forum: News and lifestyle

TREQUANDA SOUP

The bread soup, the most classic of Tuscan recipes changes in every village but in Trequanda, near Fattoria del Colle, is special

zuppa di fagioli di Montalcino

Typically the soup of Tuscan bread is a very tasty vegetable soup poured on the bread. It is therefore vegan. Only the ciancifricola and Easter soup contain also the egg.
There is however one exception: in Trequanda. The recipe book of the small medieval village near Fattoria del Colle there are two bread soups with pork. The soup with the paw and the trequandina soup.
Below I transcribe the recipe that I received from the housewives of Trequanda and that was illustrated by Silvia Argilli with extraordinary skill. Silvia is one of the young polyglots who welcome tourists in the farm house of Fattoria del Colle but has a past as a painter and illustrator.

15 January 2020

in Forum: News and lifestyle, Vines and wines

Chianti Superiore DOCG 2017

2017 the lowest yield vintage ever brought to the winery gives us a Chianti Superiore, really superior, at Fattoria del Colle in the south of Tuscany

2017 will remain in the history of European viticulture as the year of the great frost. At the end of April, for three consecutive nights an arctic cold wave crossed the continent reaching as far as Spain and Sicily and destroying the buds that, that year, had sprouted 20 days in advance. The photos of Burgundy and Collio with the fires in the vineyards were on the front pages of the newspapers to show the heroism of the winemakers who fought, unfortunately, unnecessarily.
Who, like us, was saved from the frost, then had to fight with the drought and the summer heat that reached 43°C for ten days in a row. The rains of late August and September literally saved the vines and the harvest.
The last scourge was the wild boar which, driven by thirst, also ate the unripe grapes.

5 April 2019

in Vines and wines

Sanchimento IGT Toscana 2018 BIO

Bianco Sanchimento 2018 from Fattoria del Colle, for the first time BIO (organic). Donatella Cinelli Colombini presents the first products of her environment- friendly choice.

The white wine “Sanchimento” and the rosé “Rosa di Tetto” are the first wines with organic certification produced at Fattoria del Colle. This wine is obtained from grapes from a small vineyard around the chapel of the estate. Its name comes in fact from the patron saint of the small church, Pope Clement I martyr in 97 AD. in Sebastopol. San Chimento is in fact the medieval name given to the same Saint and still today used by the local population.

SANCHIMENTO, A FARM WINE, WITH ITS OWN CHAPEL

The small Sanchimento vineyard was planted in 1989 with Traminer grapes on the north side of the hill that goes up behind the chapel at Fattoria del Colle 404 m above sea level. The soil is deep with mostly clay and quaternion deposits.

Sanchimento IGT Toscana 2018

So Sanchimento is a “family wine” obtained through grapes grown on the farm, picked by hand, vinified in a state-of-the-art manner and bottled in a limited production of 2,000 bottles.

The 2018 vintage is particular for its extraordinary aromatic richness thanks to a cool summer and a sunny autumn, but with great diurnal temperature variations.

25 May 2011

in Farm experiences, Forum: News and lifestyle, Vines and wines

by Donatella