Not far from the soaring Alps of northern Italy lies a placid lake in a dream-like setting.  At this northerly latitude we expect brisk days and a Continental climate. Instead, we find a pocket of Mediterranean-like climate at the base of soaring mountains where grapevines grow amidst lemon groves, olive trees, tangerines and capers – even, palm trees. European tourists flock here in the summer for its mild temperatures, relaxing atmosphere, striking natural beauty, and foods and wine to write home about.

If you’ve wandered into this dreamscape, welcome to Lago di Garda (Lake Garda). You have stepped into the premier wine production zone, Lugana DOC, producing one of Italy’s most distinctive white wines made from the native and noble grape, Turbiana. 

If you find yourself here, you are also only a small-bird flight from another idyllic location, Zamichele estate winery, with vineyards and farmland where the Zamichele family have been growing Turbiana grapes for a 100 years. With a commitment to growing the highest quality grapes and a passion for providing natural habitat and a haven for local flora and fauna, the Zamichele family have been quietly hand-crafting small production, long-lived and distinctive Lugana wines, finally available in the US. And you can taste these wines alongside the winemaker with the recording of our VeroTalk with Zamichele.

First we’ll look at the indigenous Turbiana grape and explore how the Lugana region is so well suited to producing this distinctive italian white wine. Then we’ll get to know the wines of Zamichele.

Turbiana: A Noble White Grape

Once known locally as Trebbiano di Lugana and discovered to be genetically identical to the nearby Trebbiano di Soave, this grape is no relation to most of the otherwise average grapes in the “Trebbiano” group making non-descript wines. Trebbiano di Lugana (di Soave) is a distinct variety and a grape of the highest quality, character, and distinction.  In fact, it shares genetics with another noble white grape: Verdicchio, that of the Marche region.  Though genetic typing proves they are bio-types of each other, after hundreds of years growing in different regions under differing conditions and soils, the grapes have adapted their own character.  What they do share is high natural acidity, complex aromatics, high extract, and the capacity to make wines of character, body, and depth that develop with age. Add Trebbiano Abruzzese as yet another very high-quality exception with no relation to the average Trebbianos, which we will talk about at our next VeroTalk June 1st.

To assure its distinction from the other average-Joe Trebbianos and even differentiate it from its local “Soave” brother, over time local producers and the Consorzio have wisely opted for another local long-used synonym for the grape: Turbiana.

Turbiana is a low-yielding, slow-ripening grape. High in extract and rich in tartaric acid, it has aromatics of white flowers, citrus and minerals, sometimes carrying notes of bitter almond. Riper versions may be layered with tangerine, tree, and even tropical fruits.

Lugana is Liquid Gold

The wines of Lugana are much more than a favorite libation for tourists relaxing along the lake shores. Locals and Europeans alike are discovering and extoling its virtues. While it has been gaining status among sommeliers in recent years, for many Americans, it’s still an undiscovered gem. The wines show surprising versatility, offering a range of styles from young and deliciously crisp to complex and surprisingly long-lived. In fact, lovers of high-quality Chardonnay, have begun to take note of Lugana, for the wine’s high acidity alongside rich body, capacity for long-aging and ability to adapt to winemaker choices.

Lugana DOC is a small white wine denomination produced from the Turbiana grape. It straddles the border of Lombardia and Veneto regions, though 90% of the growing area is within Lombardia. Its production zone lies on the lake’s southern coast and stretches about 9 km, ending at the morainic hills that begin at its southern, eastern and western borders. The soils of Lugana are defined by the deep morainic clay deposited by receding and melting ancient glaciers, which also formed the lake itself. The soils are calcareous clay (argilla), rich in minerals.

The production zone is also defined by a unique climate. Otherwise freezing winter temperatures and summer heat are tempered by this great body of water. And the mountains that form the lake valley funnel daily winds to provide healthy protection to the vines further south while its diurnal temperature shifts preserve the Turbiana’s natural high acidity.

The deep calcareous clay soils over glacial moraine are rich in mineral salts. The cool, water-holding capacity and minerals of these firm clays work magic on Turbiana.  In addition to the area’s diurnal temperature swings, the soil itself is credited for producing wines of high acidity, minerality, great structure, depth and longevity, signature characters of both Turbiana and the Lugana wines. To qualify as Lugana DOC, wines must be produced with 90% Turbiana, though most producers opt for 100%.

Zamichele – 100 Years on This Land 

We sat down with Alessandro Zamichele, who along with his cousin Giuseppe, is the third generation at the helm of this family farm.  He recounted his family’s roots on this soil and their farming and winemaking philosophy. For 100 years the Zamichele family has lived on and farmed this land, growing grapes, making wine, and raising dairy cattle, all with a respect for surrounding nature.

It started in the early 1900’s when Alessandro and Giuseppe’s “Nonno” (grandfather) migrated to the Lugana region and finding a plot of land near the lake, began growing grapes and raising dairy cattle for milk.  Though he sold most of the grapes, naturally he made wine for close family and friends.  By the 1930s, his sons Cesare and Alessandro took over the farm and sold wine in demi-johns to locals while continuing the grape and dairy sides of the business. In the 1970’s, Giuseppe and Alessandro took the reins.  By the end of the 1980’s, they had dissolved the dairy business to concentrate 100% on grape growing and crafting in-demand wine, still distributing it in demi-johns, jugs and barrels for local consumption.

In the late 1990’s Zamichele released their first commercial bottlings.  These beautiful wines were so popular the family was encouraged to little by little stop selling grapes, keeping their estate fruit for their own wine production.  Since that time, they have slowly expanded their vineyard land, acquiring plots across both Lombardia and Veneto regions.

They currently own and farm 15 hectares (37 acres) in parcels dispersed across the DOC, near the communes of Sirmione, Peschiera and Pozzolengo for the Lugana DOC wines, and a few vineyard parcels in the sandier hills around Pozzolengo, Ponti, and Monzambano for a small percentage of red and other white grapes. When we asked Alessandro why their vineyards were so spread out, he answered simply: for insurance against hail damage. Though the climate is ideal for ripening grapes, like most regions across Europe, yearly hailstorms can cause real damage, destroying entire vintages.  Alessandro emphasized, “If hail should impact one or two vineyards, we still have beautiful, healthy grapes from other vineyards to make high-quality wine that year.”

Farming With Nature

What really fascinates us is their family’s absolute commitment to nurturing bio-diversity in their vineyards.  We have all seen and read about producers farming with nature, but the Zamichele family’s passion shows in their farming methods, the local animals making homes among their vines, and in the resulting life and freshness of their beautiful wines.

Every vineyard row and the perimeter land are alive with verdant plants and wildflowers, tall grasses, shrubs and 100-year-old oaks, providing habitat for an abundance of flora and fauna: from blackbirds, jack rabbits and pheasants, to ladybugs, snails, butterflies, lizards and bees.  In fact, their wine labels pay tribute to the animals who share their vineyard home, including the Butterfly on the Lugana DOC and the snail on the Gardè bottles. These animals are attracted to the property and Alessandro aims to keep it that way.  “A vineyard without plants doesn’t seem like a vineyard to me.” He believes the vineyard should be natural and alive in every respect.

Walking through their vineyards you’ll find their respect for nature starts at the perimeter, each surrounded by shrubbery, 100-year-old oaks and tall trees.  The vineyard rows grow plush and alive with 15 to 20-cm tall grasses where a bounty of good bugs, bunnies, and lizards thrive.  Moreover, you’ll also find small birds nesting right IN and among their vines, while butterflies and bees flitter and buzz overhead.  When it comes time to mow the grasses, they only mow every other row, assuring a safe home close by in the next row.

This welcoming natural habitat is thanks to their commitment to using “il meno produtto possible” (the least products possible) without chemicals. Instead, they focus on natural alternatives, such as natural fertilizers, never chemical. Alessandro emphasizes that they farm “Sempre con tutte le precauzione” (always with every precaution). And to support sustainability, they have installed a photo-voltaic system allowing them to produce their own clean energy; enough to run the farm and winery, plus extra to put back into the system.

Great Wines Begin with Great Soil

Proof is in the sip.

We asked Alessandro: For you, personally and as a winemaker, how do you define a great wine? His response was two-fold.

First, is longevity.  Only wines with great aging potential can be called great. The wines from Lugana certainly have this in spades.  He noted how the deep morainic clay soils, rich in mineral salts, have the perfect alkaline pH to promote formation of acidity in this naturally high-acid Turbiana. That combined with the day-to-night temperature swings work together to maintain that acid until harvest. But the real proof is what he finds in all his wines: the wines of Zamichele maintain acidity in the bottle, even after hours uncorked or months-to-years in the cellar. In fact, the proof was in front of me, in my own glasses.  We were sipping their Lugana Gardè that already had a few years of bottle age, but you’d never know it.  The wine tasted fresh, young, and vivid.  

And the second criteria of a great wine?  He put it quite simply, “A wine where each sip invites another.  You want to keep drinking it.“ He added, it’s a wine that is not common or every-day; there is something interesting and delicious about the wine that invites you to want more.  Alessandro, we think many will agree.

The Wines

Lugana DOC wines allow for a range of styles and production methods.  Lugana dry wines show two principle styles: those meant to be drunk young and fresh (known for crisp body and minerality with aromas of white flower, citrus, almond, and an enticing texture) and those that gain complexity with ripeness and age. With the latter expect the same high acidity, but an even richer, lusher body and more complex flavors including the addition of mandarin or tropical fruits, with herbs and saline.  

The Turbiana grape has large bunches that are slow to ripen, and Zamichele is not in a hurry to harvest. Each year, he and Giuseppe patiently wait for optimal ripeness. In the cantina (winery), they monitor quality production at every stage.  Depending on the conditions each year, they may allow native yeasts or use DOC-approved commercial yeasts. Their wines never go through malo-lactic fermentation.  

Zamichele Lugana DOC

Zamichele’s enticing unoaked Lugana DOC wine is a beauty and not at all standard.  Grapes are usually harvested sometime after September 15, or much later in cooler vintages and go immediately to press with fermentation in stainless steel tanks. After clarification, the wines are bottled fresh without allowing malo-lactic fermentation, to maintain the bright acidity.   

A fresh and fragrant unoaked wine, the color is straw yellow with green reflections.  The nose opens with white flowers, meyer lemon and sweet almond. At first sip, the wine is bright and alive with tangy acidity that lights up the palate, then broadens out to an enticingly silky deep-textured palate.  Sweet and sour fruit flavors delight, leading with Meyer lemon, then a perception of green banana and tart white peach take over with just a hint of rosemary or thyme. This beautiful counterbalance of both acidity and richness is held through to a lasting, most flavorful finish. 

Foods: Try with cannellini bean salad and calamari, fresh lake trout or branzino, chicken salad, tempura vegetables, cream-based pastas and most chicken or fish dishes. Cristina Zamichele tempts us to pair this wine with the caviar local to Lake Garda, in on of her favorite ‘to die for’ pairings!

Zamichele Lugana Gardè

The Gardè is made in a style similar to a Superiore or Riserva level wine, with riper fruit at harvest and a richer body and mouthfeel from aging, developing complexity over time. The grapes for the Gardè are harvested about 15 days after the DOC wine.  After fermentation and clarification this wine is transferred to large oak vessels for aging.

Each year the selection of oak botti (very large vessels) will change, but generally are approximately 80% used to 20% new oak, with any new oak selected for its most gentle character.  Wood vessels are used only for the benefit of micro-oxygenation, to increase the wine’s complexity and richness, while avoiding flavors of oak itself. Zamichele’s goal: showcase the grape and the region, in a more luscious, long-lived style. Aging time in barrel versus bottle will change each year, depending on the mix of vessel being used.   

The Gardè is a light-to medium gold in color. Honeyed notes on the nose greet white blossoms and lemon rind and stem.  The wine enters the palate dancing with slight effervescence that brightens with flavors of lemon curd and the lightest caramel over juicy Meyer lemon, apricot marmalade and cream. Its concentrated core of fruit and acidity carries through to an extremely long finish. This is an extraordinarily balanced and layered wine that leaves the mouth watering, and as Alessandro intimated – wanting the next sip.

Food: Enjoy with aged cheeses, rich seafood dishes, stuffed pastas, butter-roasted chicken with herbed potatoes, risotto, and porchetta with summer peaches. 

Family Pride

Cousins Giuseppe and Alessandro share responsibilities in the cellar and in the vineyard, but if there must be a division, Alessandro manages more on the commercial side and Giuseppe on production.  But Alessandro emphasizes their roles can be interchangeable. They have plans to continue improving the winery itself and grow in terms of acreage and production, but in Italy, known for just a bit of bureaucracy, and with the worldwide supply-chain issues, this may take longer than they’d like. The adult children of these two cousins are watching and working with their fathers, learning the ropes and philosophy, getting their hands and boots dirty in the soil and wine must, to one day take the reins and become the fourth generation of a Lugana DOC legacy: that of Zamichele.   

When you find yourself next in Northern Italy, the family invites you to make Lake Garda a stop.  Tastings are available daily by appointment and beautiful tours of their thriving vineyards. The family extols the beauty of living so near this lake that draws tourists from around the world.  They meet people from every country and language who come to enjoy the tranquil beauty of this slice of heaven—and the wines. Only thirty minutes from Verona to the east and alpine skiing or hiking to the north, and one hour to Milan to the west, and Venice to the south-east, they truly feel fortunate to be at this crossroads of the world, where a taste of the Mediterranean can be found at the base of the alps and recognized in their Zamichele Lugana wines.

This article is written by Mary Beth Vierra, founder of Crush Course.  She’s a Certified Wine Educator and Italian Wine Scholar.

Taste the Wines of Lugana