Allegrini, `Palazzo della Torre`, Valpolicella, Italy 2020

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.

The ‘Palazzo della Torre’, a ‘baby Amarone’ produced by Allegrini’s unique approach to the ripasso method, is plush and rounded. 

Palazzo della Torre is Allegrini’s take on the Valpolicella 'Ripasso' method; however it is made from a portion of grapes dried specifically for this wine and not from the the Amarone pomace as is the case in other expressions. The portion of grapes that are dried do so in the 'Terre di Fumane' drying centre, to intensify the character of the vineyard. The wine spent 15 months in second-use barriques, and was blended together for two months, then aged for a further seven months in bottle before release. A blend of Corvina (40%), Corvinone (30%, Rondinella (25%) and Sangiovese (5%) Palazzo della Torre offers enticing aromas of dried cherry and hints of cloves, cinnamon and vanilla. The palate is velvety in texture, well-balanced and offers ripe, juicy dark fruit, with soft tannins and refreshing acidity.

13.5%