We’ve talked about things to see and do in the Lake Garda region of Italy. We’ve talked about what the land and viticulture is like in Lake Garda. And now it’s time for the part we’ve all been waiting for: an exploration of the wines, foods, and pairings traditional to the area. So grab your glass, your fork, and your appetite to learn about the wines and foods of Lake Garda, Italy.
Watch our Previous Videos about Lake Garda:
* What to See and Do In Lake Garda: https://youtu.be/0n7ocZ0fer8
* All About Lake Garda Viticulture and Wines: https://youtu.be/a160VdZiXTQ
About Us:
With Hourglass of Wine, we are two sommeliers sharing our journey and experiences in the world of wine as we learn and grow our wine knowledge. Looking through the wineglass, we want to explore not only wine itself, but also where it intersects with travel, food, and so much more. We are always thirsty for knowledge about wine…and for wine itself! So tune in, and we’ll see you with the next glass… Hourglass of Wine!
hi I’m jacn and today is part three of three on our video series all about the Lake Garda wine region and today we’re going to be looking at some of the wines and foods from around the lake area so let’s get started the vi culture and the wine culture of Lake Garda have two distinct Souls the Lombardy soul and the Veno Soul we see many differences between the two from the Native grape varieties that are grown in each area to even the styles of the wines that are produced in them but overall the wine region of Lake Garda combining those two areas is well known all around the world for its refreshing and enticing Rosé wines that are called kto and now let’s take a closer look at some of these other wines from Lake Garda our journey Around The Vineyards of Lake Garda starts on the western shore of the lake on the Lombardy side and here the most relevant grape variety is the grello Gentile a black grape variety na to this area as it prefers Sandy or grally soils with excellent water drainage and that is the kind of soil that we find here on the western side of Lake Garda gropello is often blended with other varieties to make both red and Rosé wines the latter of which are known as ketto and overall it produces very pleasant refreshing and light Wines in the Riviera del Garda Classico dock within this appalation we see the highest quality wines coming from the so Zona or subzone of the valtini along the southern border of the lake we find mostly white wines the first appalation that we encounter is San Martino de la Batalia do where we find simple white wines made with the toai fulano a grape variety that is usually found in the region of fuli venetsia Julia in northeastern Italy but it also is found in the Veno region as well these white wines have moderate acidity are crisp and with a characteristic of a slightly bitter aftertaste like an almond in Italian this characteristic is referred to as retrogusto amander we move up in quality with the lugana dock appalation this overlaps with many of the same villages in the appalation of San Martino de la batala but Lugano wines use another and more noble grape variety that is the Tano D Suave that you may have heard of referred to as torana and it produces not only young and fresh white wines but it also creates more complex and age-worthy wines with some iterations even utilizing wood aging moving East and leaving Lombardy behind we find another white wine the biano D custoza or custoza doc this wine is simpler easier to drink than the Lugano wines and it’s slightly aromatic in character custoza is made primarily with gargan and Tano Toscano and if you’ve heard of garoga before that’s because it is also used to make the famous wines of suave moving to the Eastern Bank of the lake we find the highest quality wines these are the renowned balino Dock and balino kto Doc the former is a light bodied and light colored red wine while the latter is a fresh and light Rosé they are both made with the same native grap varieties that are found in the nearby valella where the world famous wine amaron de la valella is made and this is just a few miles Inland to the east in fact and these grapes are mainly Corvina blended with Corvin rondinella and molinara and finally we come to the appalation of Gard do that is the most General appalation encompassing a large area both in the Lombardy and Veno regions and it covers a wide variety of wine Styles and grape varieties you can find a lot under this denomination I don’t know about you but this tour around Lake Garda made me quite hungry so what are the main Specialties of the area that we comp pair with all of these delicious wines well it should come as no surprise that many of the typical dishes are made with the fish that are found in the lake first of it’s common to find grilled fish like carp eel and Pike and a popular Lake fish with the the very tender soft meat is the tench which is used as the main ingredient of the risoto con latinka or rizoto with ten fish a pasta dish b conard or boli with sardines is made with a traditional Venetian egg pasta known as boli and a sauce made with the sardines from the lake this dish is often paired with one of the white wines from the southern area of the lake like a young lugana do or a Bianco D Costa but it also can work well with a Bolino kto thanks to the flavorful of the dish and if you don’t care much for fish don’t worry there’s still plenty to enjoy in the area you can try the risoto AL amaron or a rizoto made with the rice of the area known specifically as the vion Nano variety cooked with the famous amaron wine from the nearby valella and it uses a local cheese from the nearby Monte Baldo area known as Monte Veron cheese needless to say it pairs well with a glass of amaron De laella that matches the taste of the wine and the risoto but honestly even a red Bolino is delicious since it’s made with the same grapes but it’s a lighter wine and it’s not quite so heavy on the palette as an amaron and if you have a glass of Riviera delgard Classico you can try pairing it with the carbonera not carbonara but carbonera which is a typical dish of the land tradition to the Lake Garda area and it’s especially from the northern trentino Alto ad part of the lake the ingredients are very simple it’s a Penta that you mix with three different types of cheese from the nearby Monte Baldo area and it’s great topped off with a little bit of gadp extra virgin olive oil speaking of which almost every dish that you will taste in the region will most likely be cooked or complimented with the elegant extra virgin olive oil oo dop it’s a specialty of the area that’s renowned all over the world the olive trees grow very well around the shores of Lake Garda which is unusual at these latitudes but this is thanks to The Peculiar Mediterranean sub climate of the lake it makes the extra virgin olive oil that is very delicate and fruity on the palette with a lightly bitter and spicy aftertaste thanks to the rich polyphenols these Evo are low in acidity and easily digestible so they go great with every dish without overpowering other flavors especially on the tender grilled fish that come from the lake so thank you very much for watching if you’ve missed the first two episodes of this series exploring the Lake Garda wine area you can click here to catch up and I’ll see you in the next video