22 Act I / Poggio al Tesoro in the Spotlight 23 Act I / Poggio al Tesoro in the Spotlight The first time I heard about Bolgheri, apart from the poetry of Giosuè Carducci, it was from Piermario Meletti Cavallari, the first true restaurateur I was to know, my first and truest teacher in the field of wine. He came from the world of business, of marketing and communication, but his passion for wine drew him to open, in Bergamo Alto, the upper city of Bergamo, the first modern wine shop/ bistro: “Vino Buono” - “good wine” - read the sign which he had had painted by Geremia, paid with free glasses of wine. In 1977 he closed the shop and said that he was going to move to Tuscany to produce wine; he said that he had found a home in Bolgheri, a lovely spot near the sea and added that a Marquis who raised horses had just recently released an excellent wine called Sassicaia. He was certain that it would become famous, that wine, and promised that so would his wine, Grattamacco. And he was not wrong. At that time only Luigi Veronelli, Italy’s first true wine critic, knew of Bolgheri and Sassicaia; I, penniless as I was, had to wait for the 1980’s to sample a bottle with friends. Poggio al Tesoro in the Spotlight success Act I Scene III On the right: Olive trees, an integral part of the Bolgheri landscape Next pages: Cabernet Franc vines for Dedicato a Walter (planted in 1994) The first time that I heard about the Allegrini firm was at the Seminario veronelli with Francesco Allegrini, its director at the time. One morning, at nine o’clock sharp, a blind tasting of Amarone della Valpolicella, around twenty bottles, perhaps a few more, from different vintages. Two stood out from the rest: quite different and at the opposite extremes, Quintarelli and Allegrini. The first all jam and sweetness, dried flowers in an infusion, mature and way ahead in its evolution, the second concentrated and ripe in its fruit, with notes of violets and candied fruit, sweet spices, and licorice, rigorous and flawless in style. But how can someone choose between them when both are so fine, even though for exactly opposite reasons.? Quite simple: I fell in love with both. And still today, after both houses have taught the Valpolicella how to make wine, the “Allegrini style” is still perfectly recognizable, to the point that I feel it as an intimate, a familiar memory, something impossible to forget, just like the things you learn as child and remain inside you for the rest of your life.
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