“Villa della Torre” and “Peaks & Valleys”, the two new projects signed by Marilisa Allegrini

Enhancement of the “brolo” of one of the most beautiful and fascinating historical residences in Italy, Villa della Torre, and of the appellations of origin that revolve around the city of Verona, Valpolicella, Soave and Lugana, with a brand that from the very name - “Peaks & Valleys” - and the graphic sign, identifies the landscape, climatic and geological peculiarities that are reflected in the quality of the wines obtained “according to the rules” at the basis of the philosophy of the Marilisa Allegrini group. The two new projects - signed by Cavaliere del Lavoro Marilisa Allegrini, who is its president, after her exit from the Allegrini company, to which she has given in forty years of work an important value in its strategy and promotion action in Italy and around the world, which took place in December 2023 - illustrated at Villa della Torre in Valpolicella, the prestigious headquarters of the “newborn” company that bears the producer’s name, are ambitious and with a common denominator: Verona and its wines.
Underlining the “territorial” value, in the broadest sense, of the “Peaks & Valleys” project was the presence of the institutions of the city of Verona, with the participation of the mayor of Verona, Damiano Tommasi, the president of the Province, Flavio Massimo Pasini, the president of Veronafiere, Federico Bricolo, and the presidents of the Valpolicella Wine Consortium, Christian Marchesini, and the Soave Consortium, Cristian Ridolfi.
Both in projects concur, on the one hand, to strengthen the identity of Marilisa Allegrini’s family business in Valpolicella, and, on the other, aim to offer a new, unprecedented narrative of the entire Verona area. Generating this path is the encounter between the courage of entrepreneur Marilisa Allegrini, one of the personalities who nonetheless has given so much in the last 20 years to the world of Italian wine, and the philosophy of Andrea Lonardi, Master Of Wine and “Strategic & Executive Advisor” of the Marilisa Allegrini Group.
The wines from Marilisa Allegrini’s two projects will make their debut, as they could only be, at Vinitaly 2025, and clearly at the elegant and sumptuous dinners in the Villa Della Torre, in Fumane, a “jewel” of the Italian Renaissance, commissioned by the noble Veronese family just a stone’s throw from Verona, and built by the hand of Giulio Romano between the 15th and 16th centuries in clear homage to the civilization of Rome and a unique example of a “domus antiqua romana”, but also considered a “little Palazzo Te” (the famous 16th-century villa in Mantua, ed.), a perfect place for literary meetings and symposia.
“The Marilisa Allegrini project, which includes everything I have done in my professional life, is not just mine, however, but belongs to my family, and this is what we have done again this year with Andrea Lonardi - explained the producer, 42 years in the family business, already in 1983, suitcase in hand, conquering the U.S. “a very important market, not mature in those years - from which I learned everything: communication, wine presentation and pragmatism. This new adventure, which began between 2023 and 2024, was given a decisive push by my two daughters, Carlotta and Caterina, who, although they took different paths, decided to work alongside and support me. As decisive has been the collaboration with Andrea Lonardi, and his irreplaceable and valuable strategic vision also in coordinating the oenological team, led by oenologist Tobia Cenzato; expertise is indispensable to be able to get, in such a short time frame, to build all this. We have been working together for only a year and have managed to build a complex corporate structure and to conceive and lay the foundations for these two projects”. The first project concerns Villa della Torre where - after Bolgheri (Poggio al Tesoro, 500,000 bottles) and Montalcino (San Polo, 250. 000, between Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino), and which thus defines the mosaic of the triad of wineries in the three places among the most consecrated of Italian wine - 2025 marks a change of pace with the production starting with the 2019 vintage of wines from the “brolo”, 10 hectares of vineyard enclosed by ancient walls (to date only 16,000 bottles, between Amarone della Valpolicella Classico and Valpolicella Classico Superiore, but 60,000 bottles when fully operational). Wines characterized by an innovative and contemporary approach for freshness and precision that can be read when tasting Valpolicella Classico Superiore (2021) and Amarone della Valpolicella (2020). Wines that represent a conscious evolution of the classic styles and introduce, while having the deepest respect for tradition, new standards with which to imagine the future of Valpolicella. Technical rigor and deep respect for Valpolicella’s winemaking roots are the elements of the new winemaking philosophy, as Andrea Lonardi explains: “the estate was the first in Valpolicella to introduce optical selection for the production of Amarone 2024. No less important is the commitment to winemaking. While waiting to start work on the winery pertinent to the Villa, we have rethought our cellar in Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella. Here the winery practices strategically shorter appassimento at controlled low temperatures to preserve the freshness of the fruit and long macerations that promote complexity and balance between tannins and acidity. Aging takes place in large wooden barrels for less than two years, followed by long aging in bottles. The influence of wood is deliberately minimal, thanks to the use of large barrels and cement, to enhance the expression of the vineyard and terroir”. The labels of this line (with storytelling by Antonio Bonanno, a fine illustrator and graphic designer, with works exhibited from Lucca Comics & Games to Édition du Lampion in Paris, ed.) emphasize the wines’ connection with the history and architecture of Villa Della Torre; they feature the most iconic elements of the Renaissance monument-the Lion’s fireplace and the facade of Villa della Torre embellished with a touch of color-and bear the signature of Marilisa Allegrini.
And if Villa della Torre's wines represent the expression of a single place, albeit with a new vision, Marilisa Allegrini Group's second project with Andrea Lonardi, called “Peaks & Valleys - Verona’s Landscape”, is not only innovative, but also has such a broad scope as to embrace the entire Verona area (from which, when fully operational, 200,000 bottles will come). “For the first time, Verona becomes - explains Andrea Lonardi, Master of Wine and Strategic & Executive Advisor of the Marilisa Allegrini Group - the unifying force of its surrounding wine-growing areas namely Valpolicella, Soave and Lugana. We actually shift the focus from individual appellations to a broader Veronese wine identity, and we do so through the enhancement of the landscape, connecting topographical, geological, climatic and cultural elements. The name we have chosen reflects the shape of the territory of the wine-growing area of the Veronese province, a land defined precisely by peaks and valleys that has been shaped over the millennia by tectonic forces, glacial movements and volcanic activity”. Under the “Peaks & Valleys” brand-with a logo that graphically echoes the geographical outline of the Veronese territory-wines from other Veronese appellations will be released from vineyards owned or leased or in collaboration with trusted local winemakers. Vineyards that reflect the philosophy of the Marilisa Allegrini Group. For the vineyards, choosing them according to precise criteria: soil diversity (limestone, volcanic, morainic), climate, exposure and altitude (each vineyard is chosen for its specific combination), native varieties, training systems (espalier, traditional and modern pergola), age and heritage of the vines. Criteria that, in addition to guaranteeing the expression of origin for each wine, naturally achieve moderate levels of alcohol, below 12.5%.
“This is not just a new brand”, Lonardi points out, “but the first Veronese-led wine project that makes Valpolicella, Soave and Lugana appellations ambassadors of an unambiguous identity and harmonized expression of the territory, an increasingly attractive and hospitable destination. And in the future, these appellations may be joined by others. The Peaks & Valleys line signed Marilisa Allegrini includes four references: Valpolicella Classico Doc Monte Lencisa 2024; Lugana Doc Selva del Vescovo 2024; Soave Classico Doc Castelcerino 2024; Soave Classico Doc Fittà 2024.
“A number of bottles that, when fully operational, will reach 200,000, and destined to grow gradually each year”, said Caterina Allegrini, marketing director of the Marilisa Allegrini Group, “with a positioning in the restaurant industry between 30 and 40 euros per bottle. The feedback on the U.S. market is positive, as is that of Northern Europe. We focused on a light glass, more sustainable, and on a retro bottle, Seventies of the twentieth century: it is a green bottle, similar to those used for beer, which wants to unhinge the equation between important bottle and wine quality and adds an additional element of distinctiveness to this brand, connoted by reduced alcoholic strengths”.
“When Andrea Lonardi told me about this idea”, added producer Marilisa Allegrini, ”I immediately recognized myself. The starting point moves from the producer’s cellar to the land that produces those grapes; the focus is on the identity of a territory that becomes increasingly interesting and attractive to the contemporary consumer. We tell the soul and identity of our beloved Verona. We enhance it. We make it discovered in a completely new way, we give it the strong leadership it deserves. It is a novel storytelling that opens the boundaries of the wine world and promotes it by telling the landscape. A great pride and I think, sincerely, also a great opportunity for us Veronese”.
From the rugged reliefs of Valpolicella, where the hills meet the Adige River, to the volcanic soils of the gentle slopes of Soave, to the moraine hills and shimmering shores of Lake Garda, the landscape is a testament to the artistry of nature. Geographical aspects, but not only. These peaks and valleys represent the very foundations of the wines, just think of the limestone vineyards of Valpolicella, connected to the Lessini Mountains, which give rise to light, crisp, savory red wines; the volcanic, limestone hills of Soave, which give rise to salty, mineral, long-lived wines; and the moraine hills, carved by the glaciers of Lake Garda in the Lugana area, which produce structured, complex white wines.
“I particularly care about the involvement of the Consortia of these territories”, Andrea Lonardi, Master of Wine and Strategic & Executive Advisor of the Marilisa Allegrini Group, emphasized further, “because today the territories need forms of protection, discipline and enhancement. It is not always easy to work in organizations, but it is necessary to be in this system giving one's contribution to carry forward the idea of respect for territories. Other regions have understood this, some voluntarily and some strategically, and today Tuscany and Piedmont have twice the pace of Veneto. Veneto enjoys a different production situation, with the giant Prosecco requiring different strategies than the Verona hub. So for us, Verona must play its own game, thanks to a landscape no less beautiful and rich - in naturalistic, climatic and geological aspects - than other more celebrated ones. Peaks & Valleys is a brand we want to invest in, but also a vision encapsulated in a graphic sign: all the valleys have a fairly regular shape, they are all north-south. We can visually represent them as an open hand in which the back culminates with the knuckles, to represent the ridges of the Lessinia plateau, and continues with the fingers that tell the Valleys all the way to the Po Valley: this is the signature of the Veronese territory that carries with it the quality of the wine that, with Marilisa Allegrini, Caterina and Carlotta Mastella Allegrini we want to bring to the world. We will use this “signature”, to make wine, but also to promote partnerships and enhance this brand, and with it Verona”.