Allegrini La Grola 2020

An intense and elegant red wine with great character and personality, La Grola is the extraordinary result of the meeting between the hill of La Grola and Valpolicella's autochthonous grapes. The 2020 vintage offers a broad and enveloping scent with hints of blackcurrant, juniper, and black pepper, combined with subtle notes of tobacco and coffee. On the palate, it is fresh and intense with a solid tannic structure balanced by refreshing acidity and ripe red fruit, leading to a long finish of wild berries and dark chocolate.

A single vineyard iteration, drawing fruit from an historically crucial site, quite steep and chalky-calcareous and dropping to the Adige river. Corvina (80%) and oseleta (20%). No dried fruit. The brusque, firm and punchy nature of oseleta's tannins are evident on the attack. Yet the mid-palate is spherical and energetic, serving to mitigate any sense of stiffness, while splaying anise, mint, leather varnish and dark, saturated berry. This is a very good wine, built for the cellar. Drinkable now, but best from 2025.

La Grola has been a stalwart wine of the Allegrini family since 1989. This 90% Corvina and 10% Oseleta blend opens with aromas of black plum, macerated black cherries, clove, cinnamon, black pepper and violets. As the wine further opens, cedar, cigar box and tobacco notes develop. On the palate, there is a dance between rich black-hued fruits and taut well-structured tannins as savory and earthy notes add to the intrigue.

An elegant red, with fine tannins seamlessly meshed with the ripe black and red cherry flavors. Accents of cured tobacco, rose hip, cocoa powder and anise wind through the fruit profile, and a subtle, minerally streak of fresh earth and iron lingers on the finish. Corvina and Oseleta. Drink now through 2034.

91 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Made with 90% Corvina with 10% Oseleta, the 2020 La Grola shows ripe fruit, some background herbal notes, licorice, tar and soft spice. There is a slightly wild side to this easy red wine with fresh acidity and a whistle-clean finish. With 70,000 bottles released, La Grola paints a more focused picture of Corvina specifically, a grape normally used in traditional Amarone blends.