Amarone Classico Riserva: Cru Brolo dei Poeti The Measure of Time

A rare place, a living legacy.

Brolo dei Poeti was born from a rare place: the historic brolo of Tenuta Santa Maria – 1735, in Novare, Arbizzano di Negrar, Verona, in the heart of Valpolicella Classica. It belongs to the winemaking legacy of Gaetano Bertani and today lives on through the artisanal care of Giovanni and Guglielmo Bertani, who carry forward its vision with rigor, restraint, and continuity.

Enclosed since the 16th century and conceived from the outset for the production of fine wines, the Brolo retains an identity reminiscent of the Clos of Burgundy. Its walled vineyard, created between the 1500s and the 1700s to protect extraordinary vineyard parcels still in production today, stands as one of Italy’s rarest and oldest examples of a complete, enclosed winegrowing landscape. The long wall that surrounds it, parts of which date back to the 16th century, was built to preserve the valley’s finest parcels; and to this day, the vineyard is entered through iron gates that affirm its secluded, intimate, almost initiatory character.

The Brolo also incorporates a stretch of woodland, recreating in protected form the ecosystem of Valpolicella. In this balance of vine, forest, water, and rural architecture, one recognizes not merely a productive design, but a true idea of landscape, wisely ordered and faithfully preserved over time.

On this marl-limestone soil, bright and well-ventilated, the vineyard expresses an ancient and irreproducible vocation. It is dedicated to the cultivation of a proprietary Corvina clone and massal selections of other native Veronese varietes, including rare ones: a genetic and cultural patrimony patiently preserved and handed down as a living legacy.

Brolo dei Poeti is also one of Italy’s oldest crus, so much so that in the 19th century it became the subject of an agronomic report by the Academy of Sciences and Agriculture of Verona, illustrated by the celebrated photographer Lotze: a precious testimony confirming the historical, landscape, and viticultural singularity of this place.

As in the great vineyards of Burgundy and Bordeaux, and as documented both in the agronomic report and in period photographs, the vineyard was converted to high-density planting as early as around 1880, abandoning the obsolete Veronese pergola in favor of the Guyot system, formalized by the renowned French agronomist in 1860. It was a remarkably modern decision, revealing the technical clarity with which this cru was interpreted, while outside the Brolo vineyards continued to be cultivated at low density for less prestigious wines.

In the design of the Brolo, the waters of three Roman-era springs were skillfully integrated and channeled through handcrafted stone runnels. These feed the central pond and, at the same time, are distributed in such a way as to support the vineyard during particularly arid seasons. In this hydraulic system, too, the site’s deep intelligence becomes evident: an aesthetic, agronomic, and territorial measure in which beauty is never divorced from function.

Over time, a true civilization of wine and beauty gathered around this place. The elegant neoclassical cellar, conceived during the 18th-century expansion with ample spaces devoted to vinification and aging, and centered around the magnificent frescoed Salone delle Muse, became the setting for a literary salon frequented by Ippolito Pindemonte and other intellectuals. It was Pindemonte himself who celebrated this vineyard; and even today the estate preserves his memory through the verse, “These hills are dear to Bacchus,” which stands as the symbolic seal of the estate’s narrative.

At the center of the Brolo, an English landscape park of singular charm was also created, adorned with exotic tree species, a pond shaped like Lake Garda, and a coffee house inspired by the Black Forest. The park was inspired by Ippolito Pindemonte, according to sensibilities traceable to Francis Bacon, and made of this place a space in which nature, thought, landscape, and poetry are joined in a single harmony. In all likelihood, Ugo Foscolo too was a guest here, bound to Pindemonte by ties of friendship and intellectual affinity.

The first vintage of this Cru was 2007, followed by the 2010 vintage. Since then, Brolo dei Poeti has been made only in exceptional vintages, from a selection of the highest-altitude sections and the finest parcels of the Brolo, in an exceedingly limited production. Every bottle is individually numbered.

Winemaking follows a logic of absolute precision: the grape varieties are fermented separately, in micro-lots, before blending. Drying takes place on arelle racks in the estate’s ancient fruttaio, according to a natural rhythm entrusted to air, time, and experience. It is Valpolicella’s most defining ritual, now at the heart of the Italian UNESCO national candidacy, “The ritual of laying Valpolicella grapes to rest”

Aging unfolds over fourteen years in large oak casks, and then continues in bottle. It is here that the wine finds its rarest signature: a slow, composed, profound elegance, radically different from that of Amarones from the same vintage aged predominantly in bottle. Not power on display, but disciplined power; not opulence, but form.

Brolo dei Poeti is a Riserva of origin, time, and style.
An Amarone in which the highest expression of Valpolicella becomes memory, measure, and light.

In the glass, Brolo dei Poeti reveals itself in a deep, intense garnet red. The bouquet opens with warm spices and preserved fruit, where clove, cinnamon, cocoa, and roasted coffee come together in a rich yet composed weave. On the palate it is supple, elegant, and expansive, sustained by velvety tannins and a texture that recalls tobacco, cocoa, nutmeg, and once again sweet spices. The finish lingers on notes of raisin and spirit-soaked cherry, supported by a subtle fresh, mineral vein that heightens both its persistence and its nobility.

Here you can find the tech sheet

Brolo dei Poeti is a registered trademark of Tenuta Santa Maria Eredi di Gaetano Bertani.

Amarone Classico Brolo dei Poeti is presented in a finely crafted single-bottle case or a three-bottle case, and wrapped in tissue paper reproducing the ancient vineyard parcels in a shade of blue inspired by the sky in the frescoes of the Salone delle Muse.