Allegrini La Grola Rosso Veronese IGT

The hand-harvested grapes were destemmed and gently crushed before fermentation in stainless-steel tanks. Maceration lasted for 15 days at temperatures between 20-28°C during which pumping over took place daily. Malolactic fermentation took place naturally in barriques. The wine was aged for 16 months in oak before being blended and spent a further two months in tank before bottling, with an additional 10 months in bottle before release.

The Allegrini family estate covers 120 hectares of vineyard in the heart of Valpolicella Classico. Although they have been growing grapes here for several centuries, Giovanni Allegrini was the first to start bottling wines from the family’s vineyards. When he died in 1983, he passed a passion for and a commitment to quality wine onto his three children – Walter, Marilisa and Franco. They worked together to build on Giovanni’s quality ethos until Walter’s death in 2003. Franco looked after the vineyards and the winemaking while Marilisa has always been in charge of sales and marketing. From the 2007 vintage, Franco sacrificed the Classico status of the Valpolicella and bottled the wine under Stelvin to eliminate cork taint and random oxidation problems as much as possible. Franco sadly died in 2022. He led the way in Valpolicella’s quest for quality, forging a path that many others have followed.

‘La Grola’ is a sleek and beguiling wine, it sets the standard by which all other wines from Valpolicella are judged. The ‘Palazzo della Torre’, a ‘baby Amarone’ produced by Allegrini’s unique approach to the ripasso method, is plush and rounded.