Casato Prime Donne - winery in Montalcino

Donatella descends from one of Montalcino's oldest Brunello farm families, the Cinelli Colombini of the large Barbi estate. The Barbi winery lies a few kilometres outside Montalcino towards Castelnuovo dell'Abate and whereas it is very obvious tourist-friendly and runs cellar tours throughout the day with a restaurant on-site, this selection is to give you a more "inside" selection of wineries to visit. And Donatella has her own story. She developed this winery from scratch with the unique approach of giving women an opportunity to excel in the wine world in a very, at least at the time in Italy, male-oriented wine business. Everyone working in the winery in important positions is female, of course with no discrimination for men who are more than welcome to help during the tough harvest period! Casato Prime Donne is a great little winery where Antonella who is a native English speaker runs the tours of the winery, explaining the history of Montalcino and then of the farm. Antonella's historical intro is phenomenal to get the perspective of how Brunello got to its present-day reputation, and she also explains in simple words the process of modern-day making of this world-renowned wine. The property is full of art from young Tuscan artists and Donatella is very active in wine tourism in Tuscany, so has special attention to making any visitor feeling welcome.