They now produce cru wines from these sites (another innovation – single vineyard wines were not considered the norm in the old days), which represent surely the apogée of their output. At the other end of the scale, they were also among the first to recognise the possibility of using corvina as a standalone, varietal wine-grape for inexpensive cheerer-uppers, as well as the value of introducing small amounts of not only merlot and cabernet sauvignon, but sangiovese as well, into some blends. Giovanni’s children have carried on that passion and innovatory spirit, with Franco and Marilisa now running the show, while their late brother Walter, who was Giovanni’s eldest, was also considered crucial to the winery’s development into the brand it is today.

And what a brand it is! Allegrini’s reach is enormous these days, with sites owned from the white wine havens south of Lago di Garda all the way to the spiritual homes of sangiovese in Tuscany. Nowhere, however, indicates their passion for their native turf better than their hospitality centre, the Renaissance-era Villa della Torre in Fumane, a Mannerist masterpiece of the architect Giulio Romano, once a pupil of Raphael, built in the 16th century while – conceivably – elsewhere in the village, an ancestor of Giovanni, Franco, Marilisa and Walter was helping with the harvest.