Founding Members

The Allegrini family has had a central role in the agriculture of the Valpolicella for many generations. A document from the year 1557 demonstrates that a certain Allegrino Allegrini had obtained the right to utilize the water of certain “fountains”, or underground springs, in Mazzurega, a part of the township of Fumane, in order to irrigate his lands, an indication that the family was already present in the area in the 16th century. And already in a pre-eminent position given that various legal acts and transcriptions between 1616 and 1630 show the Allegrini to be among the major landed proprietors of the zone. The head of the current generation, Giovanni Allegrini, therefore inherited an important agricultural tradition, but he was able to reinvigorate this tradition, becoming one of the fathers of the oenological history of his area. After the Second World War he was among the first to question the traditional viticultural practices of the Valpolicella, fearlessly overturning settled habits and customs in order to aim for high quality wines. He knew his way around the cellars as well: his father had began training him in the secrets of fermentating and aging of wine when he was twelve years old, and he had begun to learn at an early age.They called him “the spider of the casks”, because, when entertaining clients and offering them wine to taste, he leapt from large barrel to another in order to draw out one sample after another. Intelligence and passion allowed him to produce, in the 1960’s and 1970’s, some of the finest wines of his zone. His final project, which he did not live to see completely realized, was to replant the vineyard of the most famous and prestigious property of the Valpolicella, the Grola, a hill which had been abandoned in the early 1900’s: he brought it back to active and productive life and made it possible to cultivate it with the tractors which were newly available. His children followed him in his work: initially the first-born, Walter, who died prematurely in 2003, then his daughter Marilisa and son Franco, in charge, respectively, of marketing and winemaking. The vineyards are all in the classic part of the Valpolicella appellation: 175 acres which belong to the family and another 50 which are leased. With an annual production of 900,000 bottles, the estate has had an important role in establishing the concept of the cru, of vineyards with superior quality potential: two important expressions of the concept are La Grola and Palazzo della Torre, true and outstanding ambassadors of the territory in the markets of the world. An equally prestigious part of the line are the innovative Amarone and La Poja, a 100% Corvina wine from the grapes of a single vineyard which expresses all of the character of the variety. The Allegrini have succeeded in creating four aces to put on the table.

The choice of the name Argiolas for the winery and the firm was by no means a random one: this has always been a family-run operation ever since its foundation at Serdiana near Cagliari by Francesco Argiolas in the early years of the 20th century. Oral tradition has it that a certain number of vineyards were planted during the First World War by Polish and Austrian prisoners of war. The firm was given a legal structure and entrepreneurial dynamism in 1938 by Antonio Argiolas, son of Francesco, quite active in extending the marketing of wines such as Monica, Nuragus, and Cannonau, previously confined to Sardinia, first to Tuscany, Latium, and the Veneto and then to France and Germany. Wines of good quality, but sold in bulk, not in bottle, as was the case of almost all of Sardinia’s wine at the time, though these were often anonymous in terms of character and personality as well. And during the deep commercial crisis which bulk wine went through in the 1980’s, many cultivators on the island accepted EEC contributions to uproot their vineyards and cease activity altogether. Antonio Argiolas, convinced that quality sooner or later would reveal itself to be a winning choice, refused this solution to the problem, even though it would have been an extremely lucrative one for him, significant capital easily gained. The decisive move came with the arrival of his sons, Franco and Giuseppe, who took over operations in 1989 and transformed production into bottled, not bulk, wine. A decisive event was the collaboration with consulting winemaker Giacomo Tachis, the father of modern Italian oenology, who has inspired the work of house enologist Mariano Murru, his pupil. It was with the assistance of Tachis that the Argiolas brothers transformed their vineyards and experimented new methods in the cellar, the first steps on a journey which has witnessed the success of these wines in all of the markets of the world. If success can be measured with figures, those of Argiolas are imposing ones: 575 acres of vineyards in four different locations, Serdiana, Selegas, Siurgus Donigala, and Porto Pino, ten different wines in the line, and an annual production of some two million bottles: wines which have made the name of Sardinia in the world. The top wine, Turriga, an IGT Isola dei Nuraghi, is a rich blend of various local varieties, Cannonau, Carignano, Bovale Sardo, and Malvasia Nera and has entered into the exclusive club of the internationally famous. Equally important for the name of the firm have been the dry white wine Is Argiolas, a Vermentino of depth and dimension, and the sweet Angialis, a blend in which a small percentage of Malvasia amplifies and further enriches the aromas of Sardinia’s Nasco.

The Castello di Brolio is one of the symbol of Tuscany, virtually a sacred spot in Chianti Classico. Here, many years ago, Bettino Ricasoli, the “Iron Baron”, created and perfected the classic formula for Chianti Classico which laid the ground for one of the great and long-lasting international successes in the world of wine. The castle itself, situated in one of the loveliest, and wildest, spots in Tuscany, is surrounded by vineyards and woods. Over the course of centuries, it has had an eventful history. Some years ago, it was sold to an international corporation but, moved by pride in his family and its history, Francesco Ricasoli, the thirty second Baron of Brolio, decided to repurchase it for his family and restore it to the splendour of former times. With a grandiose effort of renewal of the vineyards, tens and tens of acres were replanted with rational, high density and low-yielding training systems. At the same time the cellars were modernized and amplified to hold the equipment, the casks, and the barrels where the wines of Brolio are given a lengthy period of aging. Ricasoli is one of those enlightened producers in Chianti Classico who continues to sustain the idea of château wine, i.e. by production strongly characterized by a property with a precise terroir, a concept modelled after Bordeaux but with a Tuscan accent and approach. For this reason, in addition to the Brolio Chianti Classico, the regular bottling, the wine which best embodies the personality of the estate and its territory is the Castello di Brolio, a wine which surprises with its ample aromas and flavors, but above all with its softness and elegance. The Riserva Rocca Guicciarda, a Chianti Classico, is a wine of great character, impressive in its concentration and richness of flavor. And Casalferro certainly deserves a special mention: a very successful blend of the native Sangiovese and international grape varieties, a wine which marries local and international flavors, a “glocal” wine, in short.

The Bertani firm was founded in 1857 at Quinto di Valpantena in the province of Verona by brothers Giovanbattista and Giovanni Bertani. Giovanbattista had the opportunity of meeting, in France, Jules Guyot, philosopher and scientist, the inventor of the world’s most widely used pruning system. It was an encounter of enormous importance, which inspired in Bertani a new understanding of the concept of terroir and drove him to adopt the most advanced production techniques of the time in order to maximize the character of his wine. The house gained its maximum glory in the years following World War II under the guidance of the second generation of the family, represented by Guglielmo Bertani and his brother, Giovanbattista junior. The brothers expanded their activity beyond the confines of the Valpantena to all of the major areas around Verona: to the northwest in the Bardolino zone, in the northeastern part of Soave Classico, where, in 1928, fermentation cellars were created in Monteforte d’Alpone, and in the classic portion of Valpolicella where, in 1957, the Novaia estate at Arbizzano di Negrar was purchased. This is the largest property of the territory with over 560 overall acres of land and some 150 acres of vineyards and with the Grezzana cellars, the heart and current headquarters of the house and one of the loveliest architectural monuments of the zone, an imposing villa erected in 1700 by Count Luigi Trezza. The firm, still property of the family, can currently boast of over 325 acres of vineyards in all of the major appellations of the province of Verona. The firm, however, is indissolubly linked to the name of Amarone: the pride of the house is the Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, an outstanding blend of Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara and a part of the history of Italian oenology. The reknown of the wine is the result of its unusual character: the annual production of 80,000 bottles is the only Amarone to be marketed nine or ten years after the vintage and after a period of cask aging which lasts eight years. Unfortunately, in recent years it has gone on sale after a briefer aging period. But only because Bertani, a true exception in the zone, did not produce the wine in two vintages judged to be of inferior level, 1991 and 1992 and was forced to anticipate the release of subsequent vintages in order to hold its place on the market. Bertani makes only one type of Amarone. For what reason? The thesis of the firm is that a true Amarone della Valpolicella must be an expression of the entire territory, must be built on the three valleys which give wines of different character and personality, to be blended together into a cuvée which reassumes and reveals the complexity of the entire production zone.

The history of the Braida firm is linked to one of the most extraordinary personalities of the world of Italian wine, Giacomo Bologna. Over 220 pounds of exuberance and sheer likeability, a man of overflowing humanity, almost to the point of caricature, ably concealed behind a mask of smiling irony, a force of nature. At 16 years of age, he had inherited, after the premature death of his father, a lovely vineyard in Rocchetta Tanaro and, along with it, the rights to its name, Braida. Thanks to this vineyard he had an unshakeable faith in Piedmont’s most popular and widely planted grape, Barbera, at the time consider a bit vulgar and plebeian. But the wine which he created with the variety, Bricco dell’Uccellone, was a horse of a different color. “A virtual copy of its patriarch Giacomo Bologna”, wrote journalist Burton Anderson, “this Barbera, aged in French barriques, takes its name from a vineyard above Rocchetta Tanaro to the east of Asti, the wine is almost excessive, powerful, warm, generous, full of fantasy and character and, in any case, completely convincing to the taste and certain to pass the test of time”. Giacomo Bologna had studied the creation of the wine after a trip to California and an encounter with André Tschelitscheff, the American oenologist of Russian origin considered the world’s greatest expert in the use of small oak barrels. Experiments had convinced him that even Barbera (which he called with the feminine article, as all true inhabitants of Piedmont do), poor in tannins but rich in acidity, could reach a new level of aristocratic elegance when aged in the barrels of French oak from the Massif Central, something that few were convinced of at the time. And he was entirely right: presented at Italy’s Vinitaly fair in 1985, the 1982 Bricco dell’Uccellone was a resounding success, thanks to which Barbera was able to enter, for the first time, the ranks of the world’s great wines. Just as his father, Giacomo Bologna died at too early an age, but his firm, Braida, has continued to enjoy great success. It is run by his two children, Beppe, a trained oenologist, and Raffaella, as exuberant as her father and with the same marketing talents in her DNA. In 1991 they decided to bottle a new Barbera which Giacomo Bologna had conceived and followed right up to the harvest which preceded his death. And they baptized it with the name which he had exclaimed after tasting the fermenting must: “we’ve got it”, “Ai Suma” in the dialect of Piedmont.

They call him “the banker of wine”, but Gianni Zonin, the foremost Italian private entrepreneur in terms of vineyard acreage, accepted to guide the Banca Poplare of Vicenza with a spirit of service to the community and has remained in charge due to the brilliant results obtained. But he did not do it for an authentic passion: his real mission in life is the land and its fruits. With a diploma in oenology and a doctorate in jurisprudence, he has directed his family’s firm in Vicenza since 1967 when it became a joint-stock company, and then became president of the firm at a mere 29 years of age. It was due to his foresight that the company, up to then a négociant house, began to concentrate its efforts on vineyard property as well in order to improve overall quality and gradually acquired sizeable vineyard properties in areas of major viticultural interest, from Friuli to Tuscany, from Piedmont to Lombardy, and from Apulia to Sicily. Working with this spirit, Zonin became a group which, alongside the large bottling cellars in Gambellara near Vicenza, can boast of nine viticultural estates, eight in Italy and one in Virginia in the USA, 4500 acres of vineyards, 350 employees, and 23 million bottles per year of production. The philosophy of Zonin is that the true challenge is not to produce limited numbers of good wine at high prices but rather, due to large volume, good wine at accessible prices for a wide public. Gianni Zonin has won this challenge: Acciaiolo, a sumptuous blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet produced at the Castello d’Alba in Radda in Chianti, is a Super Tuscan of important personality and Deliella, a fascinating Nero d’Avola from the Feudo Principi di Butera, is one of Sicily’s most prestigious wines.

Afundamental role in the growth of the oenology of Apulia has been played by the house of the Zecca counts. The Zecca family moved to Apulia from Naples in the 16th century. They were not feudal lords, but rather wealthy cultivators attracted to Apulia by the excellence of the soil. The estate became particularly important from 1935 on when Count Alcibiade Zecca, with courage and entrepreneurial spirit, equipped the cellars with modern technology and turned Leverano into one of the most significant centers of commerce of the Salento peninsula. Today the brothers of Alcibiade, Francesco, Luciano, and Mario, at the head of the firm for many years, are among the few producers of Apulia who direct the entire cycle of production, from the cultivation of the grapes to their transformation into wine, the bottling, and the marketing. The most important objective of the house is to maintain, to the largest possible extent, the characteristics of the grapes grown in the zone and to offer quality wine at reasonable prices. In the context of clonal selections which are rigorous and precise, Zecca alternates high quality native varieties with international grapes which are suited for blending with those of Apulia. The modern spirit which has characterized the house in the recent past, which has opened the cellar doors to important technological innovations in all of the phases of the transformation of the grapes, has undoubtedly contributed to reconcile the more traditional aspects of the oenology of Apulia and a modern entrepreneurial spirit which has led to significant results and recognition in both national and international markets.
The level of various wines is unquestionably very encouraging: two particularly distinguished wines, house crus, are the Riserva Cantalupi Salice Salentino DOC, Negroamaro with small percentages of Malvasia Nera, and the Nero Salento IGT, Negroamaro with Cabernet Sauvignon. The former is of particular interest: yields in the vineyards have been drastically reduced and this Riserva ages for twelve months in 1200 liter oak casks where it takes on an intense ruby red color with garnet highlights with age, balanced flavors of red fruit and spice, and great length on the palate. The second cru, Nero Salento, can likewise boast characteristics of absolute excellence after a lengthy, 18 months period of barrel aging in French oak and an additional six months of bottle aging. On the palate, the red fruit and spices marry perfectly with elegant notes of vanilla and liquorice.

The name Donnafugata, literally “woman in flight”, refers to the story of Hapsburg queen Maria Carolina, wife of Bourbon king Ferdinando IV who, in the early 19th century, fled Naples at the arrival of the French troops of Murat and took refuge in the heart of the Belice area of Sicily. The writer Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, in his famous novel “The Leopard”, then indicated with the name Donnafugata the possessions of the Prince of Salina.
The Donnafugata firm was created by a family which, for 150 years, has strongly believed in the oenological potential of the land of its origins.
Giacomo Rallo and his wife Gabriella, both pure-blooded Sicilians and both convinced that, to grow, it is always necessary to be open to the changes which are occurring in the world, began a new project in 1983, an entrepreneurial adventure. The point of departure were the historic cellars of the family at Marsala and the vineyards of the Contessa Entellina area, and the search for exceptional quality arrived as far as the island of Pantelleria. Their children, José and Antonio, have now joined their parents in the firm, enabling the house to grow at an even faster pace and become one of the symbols of the rebirth of Sicilian wine.
The family project is based by total attention to every single detail in order to achieve objectives which are constantly more ambitious, that of realizing the entire potential of the territory with an absolute respect for the environment and the typical character of Sicilian wine.
This philosophy is even more present in the production of the firm’s most important wines, the crus of Contessa Entellina and of Pantelleria.
Mille e una Notte is a red wine which blends Nero d’Avola with small percentages of other native varieties, an impenetrable ruby red in color, ample on the nose and structured on the palate. Vigna di Gabri, instead, is a fragrant white wine, 100% Ansonica, named for Gabriella Rallo who deeply desired a wine of this type, a totally achieved example of the Ansonica grape which expresses all of its characteristics, a variety whose important potential has become even more widely accepted in recent years. Last but not least, Ben Rye, “son of the wind” in Arabic, a Passito di Pantelleria DOC, deep and of great complexity, a pride of the firm which proclaims its extraordinary character and expressiveness right from the start, from the amber-tinged yellow of exceptional brilliance.

Many universities have made a case history of Feudi di San Gregorio which, in a mere fifteen years, has become one of the best known and most important wineries of Italy’s south. This thanks to a project conceived with adequate means, clear objectives, and much determination on the part of the Ercolino and Capaldo families. The house takes its name from Saint Gregory, a district in the township of Sorbo Serpico, a small town in the Irpinia area of Campania near Taurasi (the finest spot in the entire region for Aglianico wines), not far from the Sannio area of Benevento and the Via Appia, the true epicenter of what used to be called Principato Ultimo.
In this area the landscape is characterized by hillsides, at time rolling, at time steep, with altitudes which range from 1300 to 2000 feet above sea level. The soils are a mix of sedimentary strata and volcanic ash, and the climate is particularly suited to the cultivation of the vine. The house owns 250 acres of vineyards, all cultivated with rigorous criteria which emphasize quality rather than quantity. The cellars not only are functional and modern, equipped with the finest technology, but spectacular and intriguing as well, and the entire ambience is of great interest: on the upper floor of the cellars is a restaurant, Marenna, which in a short space of time has come to be considered one of the finest of the region. The range of wines is quite complete, but with well known top-of-the-line offerings. The first, without a doubt, is Patrimo, a Merlot which has blazed in new trail in the region’s oenology, a wine which is supple and complex at the same time. But it is the native varieties, cultivated in single crus, which best communicate the house style and philosophy: the Taurasi Riserva Piano di Montevergine, an austere and elegant red wine, and Serpico, (which takes its name form the mountain above Sorbo Serpico), a more modern type of Aglianico, round and rich. And, to continue, there are the Greco di Tufo Cutizzi, a tasty white wine, concentrated and persistent, the Fianco di Avellino Pietracalda, even more characterized and very mineral. Last but not least, Campanaro, a successful blend of Greco and Fiano, a singular wine.

Franz Hass, or rather Franziskus Haas, is the sixth generation of his family, and since 1880 the male members of the family all bear the same name and the same passion for wine and the vine. And a certain meticulousness in their work. Haas has a cellar in Montagna, a small town in the province of Bolzano on the eastern side of the Adige river, just above Egna, and his vineyards (125 acres between proprietary parcels and other leased plots) are distributed among those with the finest soil and exposure. Haas has passed a good part of his life travelling all over the world, visiting the most important zones and studying their vineyards, experimenting and seeking new solutions to his problems in the effort to continuously improve. Even though a certain international success has been achieved, he is certainly not resting on his laurels, but continues to study in order to improve – even marginally – in each and every vintage, because absolute quality is impossible to obtain but necessary to pursue with passion and commitment. His heart beats for Pinot Noir, a difficult grape to cultivate, which only occasionally, and then in the hands of the most ableproducers, is capable of giving outstanding results. With the stubbornness which is part of his character, Franz has managed to achieve results, in the Adige valley, which only a few succeed in obtaining in Burgundy. This is documented by his regular Classic Pinot Noir, but above all by his selection, Schweizer, named after local artist Richard Schweizer. A lovely wine, a medium ruby red in color with the classic aromas o red fruit and berry fruit, and a sinuous body of great elegance. Along with this there are, in his line, a Lagrein, a classic varietal wine of the South Tyrol, and Istante, an equally classic Bordeaux blend (Cabernet and Merlot). There is also a range of varietal white wines – Pinot Grigio, Müller Thurgau, Pinot Bianco and Gewürztraminer – which has its flagship product in Manna (the name is a homage to Maria Luisa Manna, to which he devoted the wine with the first vintage in 1995), which introduced the concept of cuvée to the Alto Adige, i.e. a blend of Riesling, Chardonnay, Kerner, Sauvignon, and Gewürztraminer. A wine of character, structured and far more long-lived than most other northern Italian white wines. The range is completed by a most original and very spicy Moscato Rosa, produced from the dried berries of the grape of the same name.