Allegrini "Palazzo della Torre" Ripasso

Franco Allegrini used the modern version of the traditional `ripasso` technique for Palazzo della Torre and dried about 30% of the grapes at the state of the art 'Terre di Fumane' drying centre until the first half of January, thereby intensifying the character of this vineyard once vinified. The other 70% of the grapes picked were vinified immediately and then refermented months later with the wine from the dried grapes. The wine spent 15 months in second-use oak barriques, was blended together for 2 months, and then aged for a further 7 months in bottle.

The Allegrini family estate covers 100 hectares of vineyard in the heart of the Valpolicella Classico area. The family has been growing grapes here for several generations, founded by Giovanni Allegrini. When he died in 1983, it 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. From the 2007 vintage, Franco sacrificed the Classico status of the Valpolicella and bottled the wine under Stelvin to eliminate as much as possible the problems of cork taint and random oxidation.