Although the fundamental premise of Rosso di Montalcino is that it is the younger, easier-drinking sibling to the longer-aged (and longer-aging) Brunello di Montalcino, today’s wine adds a wrinkle: While it may indeed be the “little brother” to Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Brunello, this 2016 is nevertheless more wine for the money than just about anything I can think of in this price range.
It expresses place, it’s powerful without being heavy, it will age…I don’t want to cannibalize Donatella’s Brunello sales, but frankly, I don’t need anything more! In this regard, I may be unique, but when it comes to understanding the varietal character of Sangiovese in its purest form, a well-made Rosso di Montalcino is often your best option. Today’s 2016 aged for a year in French oak
barriques but you’d never know it because it’s driven by the freshness and cherry-fruited prettiness of Sangiovese. There’s really no mistaking it for anything else, which I appreciate, and if you were to forget a few bottles in your cellar for a few years you would most definitely come out ahead. What else do you need, really? This has it all!
The Cinelli Colombini surname factors prominently in Montalcino history: Donatella’s brother, Stefano, runs the family’s legendary Fattoria dei Barbi, which was once helmed by their mother, Francesca (one of Montalcino's true matriarchs in a male-dominated field). In 1998, Francesca bequeathed some property to Donatella which became Casato Prime Donne (roughly translated as “a lineage of first ladies”), a wine estate staffed exclusively by women. Situated in the northwestern section of the Montalcino appellation, close to the famed “Montosoli” subzone, Casato Prime Donne consists of 16 hectares of Sangiovese vineyards which have been farmed organically since 2014 and are about to obtain official certification. The all-female winemaking team is helmed by Bordeaux-trained enologist Válerie Lavigne.
In recent years, Casato Prime Donne has incorporated more concrete tanks for fermentation (although today’s wine was reportedly fermented in stainless steel), and the property has been recognized for its work with native yeast strains in fermentation. The 2016 vintage received the Montalcino Consorzio’s highest rating (although yields were sharply reduced), and most observers note that while the wines are not as rich and structured as the ’15s, they are balanced and quite aromatic examples of Rosso/Brunello. Cinelli Colombini’s ’16 is very much true to form in that regard—its perfume is what stood out most for me.
The 2016 Rosso di Montalcino is also true to Sangiovese’s natural (lighter) color, with a pale garnet hue at the core giving way to pink at the rim. It’s a great example of how a wine’s color isn’t always an indicator of its power, because this one has plenty—more in the form of energy and persistence as opposed to weight of extract. Perfumed aromas of black and red cherry, raspberry, orange peel, licorice, white pepper, fennel, and smoky underbrush carry over to a bright, spicy, medium-plus-bodied palate. This is a firm, high-toned style with lots of aromatic persistence on the finish, perfect for food and very much capable of 3-5 years’ aging at least. If you open a bottle/some bottles now, decant it 45 minutes before serving at 60-65 degrees in Bordeaux stems. Burgers or steak off the grill would be an obvious choice, but this has the finesse for pork or roasted chicken as well. Check out the attached recipe for a sped-up
porchetta, which will showcase this wine in true Tuscan style. Enjoy!
