Along the banks of the idyllic Lake Garda in Northern Italy, lies a wine region ready to become your new favorite! Lugana wines are white wines that are fresh, delicious, and definitely age worthy. Learn with us today about the noble grape behind these wines, how they are made, and what aromas and flavors you can find in your glass!
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!
hello everyone I’m jacn and today we will explore a wine that I recently discovered and just fell in love with after visiting the region where it’s produced I’m talking about the lugana wine from Lake Garda let’s go lugana dock is a small appalation located in Northern Italy across six towns on the border of Lombardi and Veno it’s an area that touches the Southern Shores of Lake Garda and thus gets all the beneficial influence of the lake in particular some factors that soften the climate and make it particularly mild almost Mediterranean in character as we have touched on in our previous videos about the Lake Garda region the soils around the lake are of moranic origin being the result of an ancient Glacier retracting and here in the lugana territory the Southern Shores of the lake the land is even and mainly flat with the soils being made up mostly of clay to the Wine’s benefit however there are some calcerous components that make them rich in Mineral substances by the way if you want to learn more about the Lake Garda wine region we made a whole series of videos about it and you can find those links in the description below the beautiful landscape covered in vines that we admire today on the southern shore of Lake Garda is not what it used to be in fact in ancient times this area was covered in what was known as the SVA lucana hence the modern name lugana or a dense and Marshy Forest that was reclaimed only in the 15th century by the Venetian Republic but even even before that wine was already produced in the area as many traces of viticulture date back to Roman times traces of the Roman presence in the area can still be found in the famous Roman villa known as the GR catulo in the Sirion Peninsula and in the v Romana in desenzano in the modern era wines from this area or Lugano wines were recognized dock orig in 1967 making it one of the first recognized wine denominations in Italy the Superstar of the lugana do appalation is the native grap variety called Tano diave here also known as Tana or Tano lugana it’s a high quality white grape variety that is believed to be genetically very closely related if not identical to the famous veriko a variety grown in central Italy turbana is characterized by its thick skin which helps to protect the grapes against disease and pests as well as its ability to retain high levels of tartaric acid even in warmer climates the tartaric acid helps make it possible to produce both crisp and refreshing wines as well as age-worthy ones this explains why many different variations of lugana exist the standard and most common type of lugana is known simply as lugana do it’s a fresh crisp wine with flowery Aromas and hints of almond as as well as citrus notes like lemon or bergmont on the pette these wines are light bodied and refreshing but have a long finish with a pleasant acidity that makes it a perfect wine to pair with pastas or rotos the next one lugana Superior do is a higher quality wine since it has to go through at least one year of Aging before release some producers will use wood barrels even though it’s not required by law this extra aging can give the wine a more golden hue as well as a more complex flavor profile with notes of nuts and more almonds emerging alongside the usual fruit and floral Aromas these Lugano Superior are richer and more full-bodied than the regular lugana wines and they pair well with richer dishes like roasted chicken or pork finally the highest quality of the lugana wines is the lugana Reserva dock a step up this Reserva is even more complex than the superior as it has to be aged for at least least 2 years before being released at least 6 months of this aging must take place in the bottle giving it an even more complex flavor profile than the lugana superior the lugana Reserva is characterized by more buttery notes with hints of vanilla Oak and spice that can blend together very well with the fruity flavors and the acidity that are still discernable thanks to its long and intense finish this wine is perfect for pairing with more hearty dishes like stew or roasted game lugana Reserva wines are typically straw yellow in color with golden Reflections On the Border it’s worth mentioning that there is also a very intriguing sparkling version of lugana known as lugana Spumante doc it can be made both with the charmat method or second fermentation in steel tanks but also with the classic method using the traditional method similar to Champagne finally there’s also a sweet version of this wine the lugana vendemia tardiva or late Harvest so that’s it for today this was just a very brief overview about lugana doc wines it’s an amazing wine that should definitely get more attention by wine lovers seeking a complex and rounded white wine but it’s also reasonably priced which is nice if you liked this video please give it a thumbs up and subscribe it helps us making more content like this I’ll see you with the next class