Allegrini La Poja 2007

Located at the top of Podere La Grola, Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella, the vineyard comprises 2.65 hectares planted in 1979 at 310 metres above sea level, with south-east exposure.  The soil is well-drained calcareous (78.5% chalk) and stony.  Soils are marginally alkaline and combine with the active limestone content to reduce the vines’ vigour.  Double Guyot trained vines with about 4,200 vines per hectare, with an average age of 22 years. The yield is 42 hectolitres per hectare.

A warm spring followed a mild winter. Summer was hot and rain in August allowed the grapes to ripen perfectly. Despite the hailstorm which affected many producers, Allegrini harvested healthy, well-spaced grapes in perfect condition.

The grapes were de-stemmed and crushed with maceration lasting 12-15 days with regular, daily pumping over.  Fermentation took place in temperature controlled stainless steel tank between 22-31ºC with maloactic in November. The wine was then racked into new Allier oak barriques where it aged for 20 months. It was then blended and aged a further eight months in tank and 15 months in bottle.