Allegrini Palazzo della Torre

Deep, ruby red in colour, with intense perfumes of cherry-chocolate on the nose. On the palate the wine has good depth and power, with a hint of dried cherries from the ‘ripasso’ vinification. Smooth and fullbodied, with a rounder style, lower acidity and fuller structure than a Valpolicella Classico.

PRODUCER

The Allegrini family estate encompasses 70 hectares of vineyard situated in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico area. The Allegrini family has been growing grapes in Valpolicella for several generations and the estate in its current form was founded by Giovanni Allegrini. When he died in 1983, the estate passed to his three children who ran it together until Walter’s death in July 2003. Franco now looks after the vineyards and is the winemaker, and Marilisa is director of marketing.

VINEYARDS

The Palazzo della Torre vineyard in Fumane di Valpolicella encompasses 26.39 hectares of east-facing vineyard planted between 1962-1989, situated 240m above sea level. Allegrini purchased this vineyard in 1978. The soil is mostly cretaceous and calcareous. The vines on the Palazzo della Torre vineyard are trained in the traditional Pergola system, with about 3000 vines/ha.

VINTAGE

Flowering period began in the last week of May. Minimal rainfall during June and July favoured a regular fruit-setting of all grape varietals. August brought some much needed hydration to the vines (60 mm). The grapes were harvested on warm, sunny days, characterised by a considerable difference between day and night temperatures. These climatic conditions enabled the harvesting of perfectly healthy grapes with high sugar contents and the ideal level of phenolic maturation.

VINIFICATION

Franco Allegrini uses a modern version of the traditional 'ripasso' technique for this wine, and dries a proportion of the grapes at the state of the art ‘Terre di Fumane’ drying centre, thereby intensifying the character of this vineyard. Grapes to be dried are hand picked during the third week of September, whereas those to be vinified immediately are picked in the first two weeks of October. 70% of the grapes picked from the Podere Palazzo della Torre are vinified immediately. The remaining 30% are left to dry until the end of December when they are vinified and then refermented with the wine from the fresh grapes. The dried grape character makes the wine a ‘baby Amarone’ in style.