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Allegrini 2020 Palazzo della Torre
This is Allegrini's take on Ripasso. The wine is made from fresh grapes followed refermented with the gross lees from grapes which have been dried (appassimento) specifically for this wine, not their Amarone, so it falls outside of the rules of Valpolicella DOC, although the vines are grown within the confines of the region and the allowed grape varieties. In other words, it's Valpolicella Ripasso in all but name
Origin
Italy | Veneto | Valpolicella
Producer
Grape Varieties
40% Corvina, 30% Corvinone, 25% Rondinella, 5% Sangiovese
Maturity
Drink 2024 - 2029
Viticulture
Conventional
Size / ABV
Standard Bottle 75cl / 13.5%
This Month's Mixed Cases
The Producer
Allegrini
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.
At the heart of Allegrini is the vineyards which are all located in enviable sites in the Classico zone, plus their ceaseless desire to explore new ways of vinifying those beautiful grapes without sacrificing any of the authenticity or typicity.
The Wine Region
Veneto
Veneto is the largest of Italy's vineyards covering a large part of NE Italy from the Alps to the north to the fertile plains of the Po River basin in the south. It is no surprise the the best vineyards are on the slopes with the industrial wine coming from the flats. This region is the home of some of the country's most famous DOCs Soave, Valpolicella and Prosecco to name a few. Soave and Valpolicella are next door neighbours and are both composed of limestone and basaltic formations. Soave is potentially one of Italy's great white wines: a regions that is exploring its zones in developing a cru system. Valpolicella is already established as one of the great sources of red wines in the north of Italy reaching its peak with the very best producers of Amarone.
Prosecco has undergone one of the biggest booms to occur anywhere in the world of wine. From humble beginnings which was essentially just two communes, Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, Prosecco has spread like wildfire across the plains and hills of NE Italy.
The Sub-Region
Valpolicella
Valpolicella is a series of valleys in Italy’s pre-Alps in the region of Veneto, bordering the DOC of Soave, but here it is only red wines that are produced. The varieties used are a combination of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara, but others are permitted. As in neighbouring Soave, the best vineyard sites are on the hillsides, away from the quantity led, fertile soils of the lower plains.
There are a number of styles of wine produced here: Valpolicella and Valpolicella Classico are the styles simply made from freshly harvested grapes. Amarone della Valpolicella is made from grapes which have been dried in the winery until they reach a point of desiccation, followed by pressing and fermentation in the normal way. Due to a higher concentration of sugars from the drying, Amarone is a much more profound wine. Valpolicella Superiore is not strictly regulated as to be precise in its vinification methods, but is normally a blend of dried and fresh grapes. There is another style which is gaining momentum and that is Valpolicella Ripasso. This is an almost unique style of wine to this region where the fresh Valpolicella is refermented with the gross lees (the residual solids from the fermentation) from the same year’s Amarone.