Perhaps Buglioni’s strength lies precisely where, for many years, it was indicated as a limitation. Not being a “historic” winery of Valpolicella, not belonging to a centuries-old genealogy of winemakers, arriving at wine after having crossed other worlds – clothing, entrepreneurship, commerce – has allowed the Buglioni family to approach this territory with a free, less conditioned and, durante some ways, radically different gaze.
Today we would define it as a “contemporary” aspetto, even at the risk of using an inflated word, but which durante this case finds its precision: wines designed to be drunk, shared and experienced, even before explained decoded.
FROM CLOTHING TO THE VINEYARD: A STORY OUTSIDE THE CANONS
The history of Buglioni begins far from the vineyard. Per the nineties Alfredo Buglioni and his family operated durante the clothing sector, including knitwear and production abroad. Per 1993 the purchase of a rustic house durante Valpolicella Classica, with an adjoining vineyard, changed the course of things. The grapes are there, but the skill and experience are missing. The first harvests are thus given away to nearby wineries, durante exchange for teaching and a few bottles with the family label, intended for customers from the moda world. It is an informal apprenticeship, made more of observation than theories.
Per 2000 the cellar was officially founded, dug under the house, and the following year a very young winemaker, Diego Bertoni, joined the company and is still at the technical helm today. A choice that profoundly marks the company style. The question asked during the selection phase – “Do you want wines for guides wines that you finale?” – becomes a declaration of intent even before being productive. The answer orients Buglioni towards concrete drinkability, far from pre-established models.
BUILDING THE MARKET STARTING FROM THE TABLE
This approach also accompanies the entry of Mariano Buglioni, Alfredo’s son, into the company, after his definitive exit from moda. The initial commercial difficulties, linked to a surname then perceived as foreign to the world of wine – they called them “those of rags” – led to a radical change of perspective.
If the market doesn’t its doors, if the restaurants don’t want Buglioni wines, then the Buglioni people will restaurants. Thus, durante 2005, Trattoria del was born durante the center of Verona. A simple and powerful intuition: letting the public taste the wines, without filters. The operation works and consolidates over time, becoming one of the symbolic places of the city. From there an integrated system was developed which today includes catering, hospitality and direct sales. This is not a side project, but a structural component of the company: currently 19.2% of Buglioni bottles are sold directly through clubs, events and the cellar. A rare fact, which tells of the close bond with catering and with a transversal, not exclusively specialized, public.
WINE AS AN EXPERIENCE, NOT AS AN IMMOVABLE RITUAL
Per recent years this bond has been further strengthened thanks to the entry into the company of Buono, the third generation. The events renamed Azione Buglioni, organized among the vineyards, with music, wine and thousands of people – mostly young people – clearly convey the pensata of how Buglioni interprets the relationship between wine and consumption today.
Less rituality, more shared experience. It’s not a question of simplifying wine, but of putting it back into circulation, removing it from a display case that often makes it distant. The rete is not to change wine to please everyone, but to change the way durante which it is described and proposed.
A VALPOLICELLA REREADED WITH FREEDOM, STARTING WITH DRINKABILITY
This vision is directly reflected durante the glasses. Molì Pet Nat Rosé Nullità Dosage 2024 was born from an almost provocative choice: when molinara was excluded from the specification, Buglioni decided to enhance precisely what others considered a limitation: pale colour, freshness, immediacy. Refermented durante the bottle, unfiltered and with a low natural alcohol content, it is a wine that divides but does not seek compromises. Per the glass it is direct, saline, tense, with citrus hints and a finale that cleans the palate with almost disarming effectiveness. More than a stylistic exercise, a drinking tool, designed to sit at the table like a dry sorbet. Gabriella Lugana DOC 2025 instead represents a conscious exit from Valpolicella. A thoughtful choice, born from the need to have a credible corporate white wine deeply linked to a specific territory. almost quand’anche turbiana – only 2% is a Manzoni traversone, the result of an error by the nurseryman – vinified exclusively durante steel, it expresses a clear profile, guided by minerality and freshness. The floral and citrus integrate into a linear, clean bevanda, without superstructures. A white wine designed to be direct, without ambitions of long evolution but with a clear territorial identity.
With the 44 A piombo Valpolicella Rappresentativo Disinteressato 2021, Buglioni focuses one of his most interesting bets, perhaps the most representative wine of his stylistic research. The inspiration – the drinkability and tension of Pinot Noir – translates into a slender red, played obiettivo spice, small fruit and a clear tasting progression. Vinification with cryomaceration preserves the most delicate aromatic profiles and the wine, even after a significant Amarone, manages to restore order to the palate without losing depth. The “pinotesque” interpretation of Valpolicella is centered and convincing. With the Cru Amarone della Valpolicella Rappresentativo Rifornimento 2019 we enter a more complex territory. It represents the pinnacle of selection, but also the limit that Buglioni does not intend to exceed. He wasn’t born to please everyone and he doesn’t hide it. The structure is evident, as is the aromatic concentration, which ranges from dark fruits, spices, balsamic and deep hints of cocoa and tobacco. It does not seek opulence as an end durante itself, but a balance that avoids excesses of sweetness and tannic rigidity. It remains a challenging wine, to be reserved for structured dishes, where it finds its natural place.
Finally, Il Narcisista Recioto della Valpolicella Rappresentativo 2022, a sweet wine only durante appearance. The high residual sugar is counterbalanced by a marked acidity which lightens the sip and avoids cloying drifts. The of ripe fruit and chocolate are intertwined with a lively freshness, keeping the wine dynamic and playing more balance than simple softness.
