Donatella Cinelli Colombini

At Casato Prime Donne there are 18 hectares of vineyard and the winery for the production and ageing of the Brunello di Montalcino wine. The winemakers are all women: a revolutionary work situation for Italy. In the vineyards around Casato, there is a trail walk where quotations from the winners of the Casato Prime Donne Award and works of art accompany those walking through the vineyards. The surrounding landscape of the Val’d'Orcia has been declared by Unesco an important part of the heritage of humankind. In 1592 Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s ancestors already owned Casato. They would come here to go hunting and it was here that they brought their wives on their honeymoon. In recent times Casato belonged to Donatella's grandmother, who passed it on to Donatella’s mother; Donatella in turn will pass it on to her daughter Violante. Since 1998 this large stone building has a new name Casato Prime Donne and it is the first winery in Italy where the winemakers are all female.