Marilisa Allegrini
Owner

Marilisa was introduced to the wine business at a very early age by her father, Giovanni Allegrini, an accomplished winemaker in the Valpolicella region. After school and during vacation periods, she performed various administrative duties at the family’s winery.

Marilisa started her professional career by earning a teaching diploma. She later decided to pursue a special calling in the field of Physiotherapy.  She returned to the University of Verona to the Faculty of Medicine, graduating with a degree in Physical Therapy.  Having excelled in her class, she was immediately offered a job in a well-regarded practice. However, sharing her father’s lifelong passion for wine (Giovanni Allegrini’s nickname was “il ragno delle botti,” the wine barrel spider), she was drawn back to the family winery, where her brothers Walter and Franco were already working. 

In 1980, Marilisa re-joined the family business and was put in charge of sales and marketing. She immediately went about analyzing the problems and opportunities in the marketplace, and articulating clear objectives. She devised and implemented sound marketing strategies that helped make Allegrini one of the most well-known and respected names in Italian wine.

In the early 80’s, one of her main challenges was convincing consumers that Valpolicella and Amarone were great wines--no easy task at the time.  She traveled throughout Italy and the world, sharing the story of Valpolicella’s winemaking heritage and her family’s wines.  Her travels heightened her passion for wine, and helped cement the reputation of Amarone as one of the world’s finest wines and Allegrini as one of its top producers.

The combination of  food and wine is one of Marilisa’s greatest passions. In partnership with Giuliano Hazan, one of Italy’s most renowned chefs, she has established a cooking school at Villa Giona, a beautifully restored Renaissance villa near Verona.   Marilisa leads the school’s wine education program.

In 2002, in partnership with Leonardo LoCascio, America’s leading importer of fine Italian wines, Marilisa founded Poggio al Tesoro, a brand new, top-class winery in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan Coast. She and Leonardo have set the ambitious goal of making one of the best Supertuscan wines from this area. The praise they have received so far from consumer and critics alike suggest they are well on the way to accomplishing this dream. In February 2007, Marilisa and Leonardo decided to strenghten their presence in Tuscany by acquiring San Polo, a top-class estate in Montalcino.

Franco Allegrini
Winemaker

Franco Allegrini became Allegrini’s winemaker in 1983, taking over his father Giovanni’s responsibilities shortly after his death. Franco had worked closely with Giovanni through the years, and acquired his passion for fine wine from him. The responsibility of acting as Allegrini’s leading winemaker was initially demanding for Franco, given the inevitable comparison to the experience and expertise of Giovanni Allegrini.

Franco immediately expressed a desire to innovate and to grow. His youthful enthusiasm, professionalism, and devout dedication to his work would prove key elements of his success. Relying on his rock-solid intuition, Franco began a sort of revolution in the Valpolicella’s winemaking traditions, pioneering several fundamental innovations:

- The introduction of barriques, which were pairing with and sometimes replaced traditional Slavonian oak barrels.  Franco also reduced the aging period to keep a lively fruitiness in the flavors and aromas.

- Modification of the well-known Ripasso technique, traditionally carried out with the dried pomace of Recioto and Amarone. Franco had the brave intuition to alter this process, replacing the pomace with dried grapes to induce a second fermentation.

- Innovation of the drying process, with the creation the modern drying center called "Terre di Fumane" that today stands as a benchmark for the Valpolicella region. With the support of technical and scientific research, the delicate drying process is now carried out in this ideal environment to achieve perfectly dry and healthy grapes.

The first vintage in which Franco played the leading role of Winemaker was also the first vintage of “La Grola” and “La Poja”. Thus, he deserves the credit for having carried out these important projects that had been inspired by father Giovanni and started in the vineyards by brother Walter.

The important innovations in the winemaking techniques carried on during the years have made Allegrini one of the most prestigious wineries in Italy, and Franco the leading producer of the Valpolicella. Today, new producers look to Allegrini as a benchmark, and to Franco as a leader to emulate.