History and tradition of the Lugana wine

The countryside in the south of Lake Garda, in the area between the towns of Desenzano, Peschiera, Pozzolengo, Sirmione, is an area rich in tradition, flavors, fragrances and especially good wine.

The Lugana area was originally a swampy forest, not suitable for cultivation. The current name is a deformation of Selva Lucana, as it was known in ancient times, which in turn would be a corruption of locus, from the latin woods.

It’s hard to know when he began growing grapes in this area. There are several legends about it, dating back to the Romans and the Lombards. What is certain is that Giangaleazzo Visconti ordered to deforest the area for reasons of war, and that in the Venetian era began a gradual conversion of the Lugana from uncultivated area to agricultural area.

Certainly, in the sixteenth century, it was cultivated an excellent grape named Trebbiano. This is a white grape and presents in the shape of a pyramid. The berries have a thick skin and juicy flesh. This grape is the most productive in the world and is particularly common in Italy and France. The reason for its success is that this grape can resist very well to diseases and gives much fruit even in difficult lands.

In the early twentieth century, the Lugana wine began to assume its modern form and there are numerous references and testimonials from prominent people, such as the German journalist Hans Barth, which stopped in Sirmione to enjoy a white wine particularly good that at the age took the name of Lugana.

In the fifties and sixties Lugana wine had become a well-defined identity and it obtained in 1967 from government the status of DOC. After that, it became a brand known all around the world. Subsequently, in 1975, government added the option of Lugana Spumante and in 1998 the Lugana Superiore option.

In the nineties finally it takes the final consecration of the wine, produced by different companies and that has transformed the campaign of Lugana, giving the appearance that it still has: an extended hilly area dominated by vineyards, old farmhouses and modern companies, where flavors, history and culture are mixed in a single embrace.