Farewell to Francesca Cinelli Colombini, the lady of Brunello

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Francesca Cinelli Colombini, one of the first producers of Brunello wine, a leading figure in oenological entrepreneurship and a pioneer of Italian women in wine, died at the age of 92 in her home in Montalcino. She comes from an ancient Sienese family, she was born in Modena, where her grandfather Pio Colombini was rector of the university. After marrying Fausto Cinelli, in the autumn of 1952, she began working at the Fattoria dei Barbi, owned by the Colombinis since 1352 and headquarters of the company of the same name founded in 1790 where Brunello has been produced since 1892.

After the death of her husband Fausto Cinelli in 1976, Francesca Cinelli Colombini managed the Fattoria dei Barbi alone for over 20 years. You were the protagonist of one of the first acts of birth of wine tourism with the opening of the Barbi cellar to the public in the 1950s. Francesca Cinelli Colombini has held many public offices: member of the National Academy of Vine and Wine, member of the Association of Italian winegrowers of excellence (of which she was also president), and above all a member of the Women of Wine association since foundation.

In 1981 he established and conducted for eighteen years the “Barbi Colombini” literary and journalistic award for the valorisation of the natural heritage and civilization of the Montalcino area, of local history and wine research, which in 1999 changed its name to the Casato Prime Donne award . In 1985 she, the only woman among Italian producers, took part in the first edition of the Wine Experience in New York, open to only one hundred companies worldwide. In 1990 she was appointed Commendatore della Repubblica, in the same year she was the first entrepreneur of a medium-sized company to receive the International Agricultural Press Award. During the 2008 edition of Vinitaly she was awarded the Targa d’Oro of the international prize of the Giuseppe Morsiani Association, she was the first woman to have received this important recognition, intended for those who contributed to making the history of the female presence in the world of wine.