Dante Alighieri’s descendants still own and tend the land where this story begins.

In 1353, Dante’s son Pietro purchased an estate in Sant’Ambrogio, in the Valpolicella region north of Verona. More than six centuries later, that land remains in the hands of the Alighieri family’s descendants through the Serego Alighieri name. The estate is not simply a historic winery with a famous connection. It is a living family inheritance, still producing grapes on the same hills where Dante’s lineage took root after exile.

We spent ten days travelling through Valpolicella in pursuit of our beloved Amarone. But nothing prepared us for stepping onto the Serego Alighieri estate. Walking through the ancient vineyard with our host, Nadia Tomezzoli, we felt the unusual weight of the place. This was not history preserved behind glass. It was history still growing, being harvested, and poured into a glass.

That legacy now continues through the estate’s long partnership with Masi, one of Veneto’s most important wine families. Together, Serego Alighieri and Masi connect Dante’s heritage with the distinctive traditions of Amarone: carefully dried grapes, concentrated fruit, time, and patience.

This is why the Masi Amarone story matters. The wine is not only a rich red from Valpolicella. It is a taste of land that has remained with one family for more than 670 years.

If you are just beginning to explore Italian wine, our overview of Italy’s most important wine regions is a good place to start.

The Poet’s Soil

Florence may have given birth to Dante, but exile brought his family to Verona. In 1353, his son Pietro found refuge and a future here, purchasing the estate in Sant’Ambrogio where the Alighieri lineage took root.

By the 1500s, a daughter of the Alighieri family married into the noble Serego family. That union created the name Serego Alighieri and bound two historic families to the same land.

Today, the 21st generation is entirely female, and the 22nd is already in the making, with one of the daughters expecting the next heir to this ancient estate.

The detail that stayed with us was not only the age of the property. It was the continuity. The family is still connected to the land in a direct, physical way, walking the vineyard, tending the estate, and carrying its story forward.

The estate feels almost mythic. Beneath the hills and through the ancient vineyard, we followed paths once traced by Dante’s descendants, guided by Nadia’s warmth and insight.

The estate is not just historic. It feels mythic. We walked paths once traced by the poet’s heir.

Masi — Where Tradition Meets Mastery

If the estate tells the story of legacy, Masi brings that story to life in the bottle. The name Masi comes from “Vaio dei Masi,” the first vineyard acquired by the Boscaini family in 1772. What began as a family venture is now one of Italy’s most iconic wine houses, carrying over 250 vintages of tradition. Masi is now led by the sixth, seventh, and eighth generations of the Boscaini family and continues to be a beacon of both innovation and tradition in Veneto.

In 1973, the story deepened. Masi began its historic collaboration with the Serego Alighieri family, uniting poetic heritage with precision winemaking. Grapes once sold from the estate were now transformed under the shared vision of both families. Today, that partnership still thrives, producing wines that are bold, refined, and reverent of their storied origins.

What began as a family venture in 1772 is now one of Italy’s most iconic wine houses

The Amarone to pour first

The 2018 Amarone Riserva was the wine that stopped us in our tracks. It had orchestral depth: dark cherry and dried plum layered with spice, tobacco, restraint, and a whisper of ancient oak.

For a more approachable introduction to the house style, start with the Masi Costasera Amarone Classico 2020. It is the bottle we have trusted and treasured for 15 years, full, generous, and unmistakably Amarone without losing its sense of place.

For a more ceremonial bottle, look for the Masi Costasera Amarone Classico Riserva 2018, the vintage we tasted at the estate. This is the choice for a slow dinner, a holiday table, or a bottle you want to open when the story matters as much as the wine.

Amarone rewards food with equal depth: braised beef, aged cheese, wild mushroom dishes, or a long-cooked meal shared around the table. It is not a wine to rush. Give it time in the glass and let the layers unfold.

The 2018 Amarone Riserva stopped us in our tracks

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Valpolicella has more than one story worth following. A quiet revolution is unfolding in the same hills, and a different Amarone producer we’ve returned to for a decade is also worth exploring.

Masi and Serego Alighieri bring two kinds of heritage together. One is the living inheritance of Dante’s descendants, still rooted in the land since 1353. The other is Masi’s generations of experience transforming the grapes of Valpolicella into Amarone.

When you open a bottle of Costasera, you are not simply opening a powerful Italian red. You are opening a connection to a place where poetry, family, and wine have remained intertwined for centuries.

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