The must-drink wines for September

Despite family losses, the Allegrinis are building on their father’s revolutionary vision for their wines.

Allegrini wines

For fans of the iconic Italian Amarone Valpolicella, the Allegrini family name will be more than familiar. The Allegrinis were early champions of what became home to some of Italy’s finest red wines. Over centuries, six generations of the family had been grape growers in the hills north-west of Verona, until Giovanni Allegrini took the brave step of bottling wines under his own label.

The local wines Allegrini had grown up with were largely casual bistro styles – uncomplicated, juicy; mass produced and enjoyed in large volumes. Allegrini saw opportunity during a trip to California and dreamed of what could be possible through revolutionising the wines of his home, to improve on quality at every level by tweaking viticulture and winemaking.

He purchased a new vineyard, La Grola, where he experimented with new techniques to bring modernity to what had been a very traditional wine region. Grapevines were pruned using techniques from Bordeaux, a massive move away from the overhead vine pergolas, famous for their massive yields. However, not long before he planned to release the crowning achievement from his experimental vineyard, La Poja, he unexpectedly passed away and never saw the grand accolades that his life’s work brought to the Allegrini name.

Luckily, Giovanni’s three children took up the mantle. The family had invested heavily in their new project, which had taken them close to the edge, and Giovanni had died before it bore fruit. Oldest son Walter stepped in and rallied the family, particularly his sister Marilisa and brother Franco, to consolidate and build on their father’s work. He urged them to “fight like lions” to protect their six generations of heritage.

All had the same adventurous spirit and thirst for innovation. Winemaker Franco wanted to break free from the local regulations that required Valpolicella to be a blend of corvina, rondinella and molinara, preferring corvina and blends with other grapes such as sangiovese. Walter spent his time in the vineyards continuing his father’s efforts to experiment and modernise in search of higher quality, while Marilisa managed communication and sales. This combination saw Allegrini’s stocks slowly rise, in part thanks to an exceptional quality Amarone as well as their more modern local expression, Palazzo della Torre, which is now seen as one of Valpolicella’s iconic wines despite veering away from the traditional local style.

For Marilisa and Walter, that spirit also had them dreaming of what they could achieve in other parts of Italy, with their eyes firmly on the rising star region of Bolgheri on the Tuscan coast. They secured a property with serious cachet, Poggio Al Tesoro, conveniently located next door to Ornellaia, which was already home to one of Italy’s greatest wines. It must have seemed as if the stars had aligned.

The property had previously been rented by Ornellaia but the Allegrinis, unhappy with what they found, proceeded to rip out all the vines and replant. This involved the meticulous mapping of the property and soils before carefully matching grape varieties with optimal sites and microclimates. Walter Allegrini was at the centre of this project and he must have looked forward to seeing the resulting wines. Yet only two years after the purchase, Walter died swimming off the Elba coast while taking his first holiday in two years, before he too had the chance to see his new project in full swing.

These tragic events saw Marilisa bring her daughters Carlotta and Caterina on board, their younger eyes potentially explaining the vibrant heart at the core of this winery, in particular the careful approach to sustainability and the use of various techniques to minimise long-term impacts on the natural environment.

Poggio Al Tesoro, like most of the wines in Bolgheri, is primarily planted to French grape varieties, particularly cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc. This is Italy’s Bordeaux, where gravelly soils and a location close to the ocean produces savoury and structured red wines with good potential. To this Walter added vermentino, a grape variety more common to the nearby island of Sardinia but also well suited to Tuscany’s warm maritime climate.

The wineries’ location relatively close to the Tyrrhenian Sea helps provide a more temperate climate than for much of Bolgheri, which explains their elegant style and the significant proportion of cabernet franc in the vineyard. The belief the Allegrinis have in cabernet franc is illustrated by their top wine, the Dedicato a Walter Cabernet Franc, a tribute to their lost family member. There is little doubt Walter would have been proud of the wine that bears his name and of their growing family legacy, part of which was built with his own hands.

POGGIO AL TESORO SOLOSOLE BOLGHERI VERMENTINO 2020

A typically reserved Italian white wine that delivers savoury nutty, pithy fruit aromas with old oak providing good support. An attractive rich texture follows well balanced by tangy acidity before a long, drying finish.

POGGIO AL TESORO DEDICATO A WALTER BOLGHERI SUPERIORE 2017

A classic cabernet franc that will age well, it opens with a beautiful array of inky, violet

and gently leafy aromas wrapped up in a blanket of mocha oak. Fruit is fleshy and underpinned by ample tannins that are beautifully integrated before a long, linear finish. This has class written all over it.

POGGIO AL TESORO SONDRAIA BOLGHERI SUPERIORE 2018

This blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and cabernet franc is beautifully formed as it offers up a deep core of gravel, tar and cedar aromas with generous underlying ripeness. Impressive fruit power is then well supported by sturdy tannins that drive a long and strong finish.