Lugana Wine Tours

Lugana is a white wine that in the past few years has experienced growing success both in Italy and abroad. It is produced in a small area close to the south coast of Lake Garda, between Desenzano, Sirmione, Peschiera. A visit to the vineyards and cellars that produce Lugana DOC is a way to get to know an area rich in history and natural beauty, with Sirmione and the places of the Risorgimento (Italian independence) battles, such as San Martino, Solferino and Peschiera, fought where today the grapes grow.

The Wine

Terroir

Unfortunately, the production area of Lugana is among the smallest in Italy, straddling the Veneto and the province of Verona, Lombardy and the province of Brescia. Despite the commercial success, it is not possible to extend the territory as it was done in the past with other famous DOC because the characteristics of the land that make this wine so unique are found only in a small area, closed to the north by Lake Garda, to the south by the morainic hills. The soil of Lugana is very rich in clay, accumulated with the geological events, the glaciations in particular, which have also created Lake Garda and the morainic hills that surround it. In some vineyards, clay accounts for almost half of the soil composition. These particular characteristics of the soil allow to obtain a wine of the highest quality from an almost flat territory, something quite unusual for the cultivation of the vine.

Turbiana Grape

Lugana is produced mainly from grapes of a native vine, Turbiana, which although related to Trebbiano, is in fact a variety on its own, one of the countless in the varied Italian ampelographic scene, selected by farmers over the centuries, to better adapt to the specific climatic and territorial conditions of the south of Lake Garda.

Lugana is a particularly structured white wine, with great savoury and acidity, certainly suitable as an aperitif and with fish, but also perfect with more tasty dishes such as pastas, risottos, young or medium matured cheeses, white meats and roasts. It is therefore a very versatile wine, which is also suitable for sparkling wine making. Although it is a white wine, given its structure and body, it is able to give its best after a few years of aging in the bottle, especially for some quality producers and exceptional vintages, that can go even beyond 5/6 years. The wineries in which as tourist guides of Lugana we organize more often visits with tasting are: Pilandro, Cascina Maddalena, Ca' Lojera.

Itineraries

A visit to the winery includes a walk through the vineyards, a tour of the production facilities and aging cellars and is followed by a tasting of the most representative products, accompanied by a tasting of meats and cheeses. A visit to the Lugana cellars can be part of a wider guided tourist itinerary that includes some of the most evocative towns on Lake Garda, such as Sirmione, with the archaeological excavation of the Roman villa of Catullus and the Middle Age castle, Valeggio sul Mincio, with its famous tortellini, Borghetto, with the Visconti bridge-dam and ancient water mills, and the memorials of the Risorgimento battles in San Martino and Solferino, where the Red Cross was born.

For any further information on tourist food and wine itineraries, guided tours of the cellars of Verona or to plan your tour with the guides of Verona write to:

veronatour@gmail.com