Casato Prime Donne

Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino is a Brunello winery. The property is made up of 40 hectares of which 17 hectares are taken up by Sangiovese vineyards and the winery for the production and aging of the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino wines.

The vintners are all women, as is the winemaker, a unique situation in Italy, a flagship for women in the wine business.

In the barrel aging area there are no barriques: the Brunello ages at least two years in 5 and 7-hectolitre French oak casks worked by artisans, after which it is decanted into 15-40 hectolitre barrels and finally undergoes further aging period in bottles which is essential for the aromatic fullness of the wine. The distinctive element of the wine is its elegance: red harmonies able to last in time.

Another detail, that visits the Casato Prime Donne a unique experience, is the frescoes of the history of Montalcino, which alternate with the Brunello barrels. The guide tells the tourists the secrets of Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Brunello together with the fascinating legends such as the miracle that saved Montalcino during the 16th-century assaults and the birth of Brunello in the 19th century. In the vineyards surrounding the winery, there is a hiking trail enriched by contemporary works of art and sentences dictated by the winners of the Casato Prime Donne Award.

The “Original style” Brunello project aims at bringing this wine back to the characteristics that Donatella discovered when she was very young (1970-1980), in the wines made by her grandfather, Giovanni Colombini, one of the pioneers in the Montalcino denomination. Elegant wines, that are vertical, fresh, and with a strong territorial imprint as well as the ability to be cellared for a long time. The project's “original style” began in 2011 through a return to manual labor and old traditions, like the use of concrete tanks for fermentation.