A precious land treasured for 
twenty-one generation

The Serego Alighieri estate is the one with the longest historical, cultural and winemaking tradition in Valpolicella, dating back more than 650 years. It all began in 1353 when Pietro Alighieri, son of the Supreme Poet Dante, who had followed his father into exile in Verona, bought the Casal dei Ronchi property in Gargagnago in the centre of Valpolicella Classica, which remains the heart of the property today.

In 1549, the Alighieri family found itself with only female heirs, and married into the powerful Imperial family of Serego; ever since then descendants of the family have called themselves by the double-barrelled name, Serego Alighieri.
In the 16th century, Marcantonio Serego was an enthusiastic proponent of agricultural reform, of land reclamation and of increasing the productiveness of his estates.  Crop cultivation managed as a science and as an art began in the eighteenth century with the identification of the right habitat for each product. In the 1920s, after phylloxera, Pieralvise Serego Alighieri founded the School of Agriculture in Gargagnago to replant local native grape varieties.

Tenuta Serego Alighieri became one themost prestigious historic Venetian estates under the umbrella of the Masi Group in 1973. Today, the property is open to the public so that the spirit of Valpolicella and its historic memories can be revealed to everyone.

Paved with the typical Prun stone of the area, the wide courtyard was once used for agricultural purposes. The 11 ancient vines inside the yard were planted in 1875 to mark the birth of Count Pieralvise, who went on to found the Agricultural School in Gargagnago in 1920. Among the very few that survived phylloxera in the early 1900s, these vines produce the Serego Alighieri clone of the Molinara grape.

Vineyards opposite produce the Serego Alighieri Molinara to give unique personality to wines produced by this historic house.

Facing the courtyard with its vines is the historic drying loft for Appassimento, the traditional method used in the Venetian regions to concentrate aromas and perfumes in wines.

The “arele”, or bamboo racks, in the drying loft are where grapes are laid out to dry. Grapes from the traditional Valpolicella blend, Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara, are left for a minimum of 100 days before vinification to make the two great wines of Valpolicella: Amarone and its sweet alter ego, Recioto.

Two prestigious cru wines are made at Possessioni Serego Alighieri: Vaio Armaron Amarone, which was classed as one of the ten best wines of the world by Wine Spectator, and Casal Dei Ronchi Recioto.  MontePiazzo Valpolicella Classico Superiore, coming from the eponymous vineyard, is also made with this ancient technique.

The Serego Alighieri cellars are the oldest in Valpolicella, the resting place for wines with identifiable character and nobility. Their aromas are surprising and come from the use of 600-litre cherry wood barrels. Still in use today, following the ancient traditions of the Serego Alighieri family, cherry wood helps to increase the smoothness and rotundity of the wines, accentuating the typical aromas of grapes from the Valpolicella region.

The cellars are also stocked with some oak barrels, which are used for the first stages of maturation, since cherry wood is very porous and can only be used for a maximum of four months to give its unique personality to the wines.