Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne
Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne
Montalcino’s Casato Prime Donne is made up of 40 organic hectares, 16 of which are planted to Sangiovese. There is also a modern, artistic, fresco-filled winery and ageing facility for the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino wines. The entire staff is female, including the head winemaker, and Donatella has become a beacon for women in the wine industry, not only in Italy, but globally. Donatella noticed that wine critics for the Italian wine guides were all men. She decided then to unite a small group of talented women wine professionals, asking them to blind taste future Brunello from different barrels, and to select the best lots. Donatella considers this result, the Brunello Prime Donne, the flagship for her wineries.
Sangiovese from the clay-limestone Ardita Vineyard surrounding the winery at 250m, was handpicked and fermented on skins for 15 days in stainless and unlined concrete. It was then moved to 5-7hl French tonneaux, before finishing in traditional 15-40hl oak barrels from Slavonia for 2.5 years. Prior to being bottled, unfiltered, the wine rested in unlined concrete vats. Prime Donne is a powerful Brunello destined for a long ageing. Fragrant wild cherry and raspberry flows through this graceful, structural wine, layered with medicinal cassis, leather, balsam, and crushed stones. Tannins are long and finely firm, well integrated into the lifted, stony fruit, and guide this to a lingering scrubby herb finish. Quite special, and from the lauded 2019 vintage, this is drinking beautifully now, and with time ahead in your cellar. Only 6,000 bottles produced.
"Notes of menthol and anise complement the cherry, plum, mineral and tobacco flavors in this expressive red, which is backed by a steely structure, with assertive tannins lining the extended aftertaste. Intense and delineated. Best from 2026 through 2043." - 96 points, Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, March 20, 2024.
“The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Progetto Prime Donne is a seductress enticing with exotic spice, rubbed sage, cedar, dusty rose, and dried strawberry aromas. Cool-toned and classic in feel, it washes across the palate with seamlessly silky textures that balance tart wild berries with vibrant acidity. Tactile minerals add grip toward the close. This finishes dramatically long and staining, leaving violet inner florals to mingle with orange as a web of fine tannins frame the experience perfectly. The 2019 is the most balanced and complex rendition of Prime Donne I’ve yet encountered.” - 95+ points, Eric Guido, Vinous.
Read about Donatella Cinelli Colombini here.
Vintage: 2019
Bottle Size: 750 mL
Bottles per Case: 6
Price per Bottle: $129
Style: Still
Region: Tuscany
Appellation: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Country: Italy
Grape: Sangiovese
Colour: Red
Vegan: No
Organic: Yes
Biodynamic: No
Natural: No
Low Intervention: Yes
Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne
Montalcino’s Casato Prime Donne is made up of 40 organic hectares, 16 of which are planted to Sangiovese. There is also a modern, artistic, fresco-filled winery and ageing facility for the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino wines. The entire staff is female, including the head winemaker, and Donatella has become a beacon for women in the wine industry, not only in Italy, but globally. Donatella noticed that wine critics for the Italian wine guides were all men. She decided then to unite a small group of talented women wine professionals, asking them to blind taste future Brunello from different barrels, and to select the best lots. Donatella considers this result, the Brunello Prime Donne, the flagship for her wineries.
Sangiovese from the clay-limestone Ardita Vineyard surrounding the winery at 250m, was handpicked and fermented on skins for 15 days in stainless and unlined concrete. It was then moved to 5-7hl French tonneaux, before finishing in traditional 15-40hl oak barrels from Slavonia for 2.5 years. Prior to being bottled, unfiltered, the wine rested in unlined concrete vats. Prime Donne is a powerful Brunello destined for a long ageing. Fragrant wild cherry and raspberry flows through this graceful, structural wine, layered with medicinal cassis, leather, balsam, and crushed stones. Tannins are long and finely firm, well integrated into the lifted, stony fruit, and guide this to a lingering scrubby herb finish. Quite special, and from the lauded 2019 vintage, this is drinking beautifully now, and with time ahead in your cellar. Only 6,000 bottles produced.
"Notes of menthol and anise complement the cherry, plum, mineral and tobacco flavors in this expressive red, which is backed by a steely structure, with assertive tannins lining the extended aftertaste. Intense and delineated. Best from 2026 through 2043." - 96 points, Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, March 20, 2024.
“The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Progetto Prime Donne is a seductress enticing with exotic spice, rubbed sage, cedar, dusty rose, and dried strawberry aromas. Cool-toned and classic in feel, it washes across the palate with seamlessly silky textures that balance tart wild berries with vibrant acidity. Tactile minerals add grip toward the close. This finishes dramatically long and staining, leaving violet inner florals to mingle with orange as a web of fine tannins frame the experience perfectly. The 2019 is the most balanced and complex rendition of Prime Donne I’ve yet encountered.” - 95+ points, Eric Guido, Vinous.
Read about Donatella Cinelli Colombini here.
Vintage: 2019
Bottle Size: 750 mL
Bottles per Case: 6
Price per Bottle: $129
Style: Still
Region: Tuscany
Appellation: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Country: Italy
Grape: Sangiovese
Colour: Red
Vegan: No
Organic: Yes
Biodynamic: No
Natural: No
Low Intervention: Yes
Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Brunello di Montalcino Prime Donne
Montalcino’s Casato Prime Donne is made up of 40 organic hectares, 16 of which are planted to Sangiovese. There is also a modern, artistic, fresco-filled winery and ageing facility for the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino wines. The entire staff is female, including the head winemaker, and Donatella has become a beacon for women in the wine industry, not only in Italy, but globally. Donatella noticed that wine critics for the Italian wine guides were all men. She decided then to unite a small group of talented women wine professionals, asking them to blind taste future Brunello from different barrels, and to select the best lots. Donatella considers this result, the Brunello Prime Donne, the flagship for her wineries.
Sangiovese from the clay-limestone Ardita Vineyard surrounding the winery at 250m, was handpicked and fermented on skins for 15 days in stainless and unlined concrete. It was then moved to 5-7hl French tonneaux, before finishing in traditional 15-40hl oak barrels from Slavonia for 2.5 years. Prior to being bottled, unfiltered, the wine rested in unlined concrete vats. Prime Donne is a powerful Brunello destined for a long ageing. Fragrant wild cherry and raspberry flows through this graceful, structural wine, layered with medicinal cassis, leather, balsam, and crushed stones. Tannins are long and finely firm, well integrated into the lifted, stony fruit, and guide this to a lingering scrubby herb finish. Quite special, and from the lauded 2019 vintage, this is drinking beautifully now, and with time ahead in your cellar. Only 6,000 bottles produced.
"Notes of menthol and anise complement the cherry, plum, mineral and tobacco flavors in this expressive red, which is backed by a steely structure, with assertive tannins lining the extended aftertaste. Intense and delineated. Best from 2026 through 2043." - 96 points, Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator, March 20, 2024.
“The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Progetto Prime Donne is a seductress enticing with exotic spice, rubbed sage, cedar, dusty rose, and dried strawberry aromas. Cool-toned and classic in feel, it washes across the palate with seamlessly silky textures that balance tart wild berries with vibrant acidity. Tactile minerals add grip toward the close. This finishes dramatically long and staining, leaving violet inner florals to mingle with orange as a web of fine tannins frame the experience perfectly. The 2019 is the most balanced and complex rendition of Prime Donne I’ve yet encountered.” - 95+ points, Eric Guido, Vinous.
Read about Donatella Cinelli Colombini here.
Vintage: 2019
Bottle Size: 750 mL
Bottles per Case: 6
Price per Bottle: $129
Style: Still
Region: Tuscany
Appellation: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Country: Italy
Grape: Sangiovese
Colour: Red
Vegan: No
Organic: Yes
Biodynamic: No
Natural: No
Low Intervention: Yes
