For your wine tastings, you can choose among 130 Lugana wineries: discover the first three we’ve selected for you
The wines of Lake Garda: the wineries we’ve selected for you for visits and tastings
The wines of Lake Garda manage to capture the many nuances of our land, and the wineries know how to gather essences and flavors with care, dedication and character.
For your wine tastings: 130 Lugana wineries and 60 Valtenesi wineries
There are 130 Lugana wineries and 60 Valtenesi wineries, yet each has its own character, its own style, its own creativity, so no Lugana will ever be the same as another, and the same goes for Chiaretto or Groppello.
Each has its own family history, sometimes even centuries old, and its own way of interpreting the craft and the fruits of the vine.
That’s why we invite you not to stop at the first winery, but to discover as many as you can, because each one has a story to tell you, a different emotion to give you, a unique memory to take home with you.
To start, we’ve chosen three, all sharing a long history and the ability to preserve, while also reinventing, wines and traditions.
Cantina Ottella: art lovers and wine, contemporary art where you least expect it
An emotional journey through wine, art and architecture: Cantina Ottella preserves its wines, from Lugana to Valpolicella, through Amarone and Rosé, amid works from the Venice Biennale, Mediterranean courtyards, hydrangea gardens, all the way to the incredible barrel cellar: a site-specific artwork, a luminous wave that winds among the barrels, reminiscent of wine as it slips into a glass.
Behind the name Ottella lies a legend: eight twins were born in the courtyard of the farmstead where it all began. The eight children are carved into the coat of arms that still represents this winery in the lands of Lugana today.
Mediterranean courtyards, works from the Venice Biennale and an incredible barrel cellar
Walking through its courtyards and up and down stairs and hidden rooms, you’ll move from the flair of modern art, with light installations and colored glass bubbles, to hydrangea gardens that open unexpectedly onto Mediterranean courtyards with lemon and olive trees, all the way to the incredible barrel cellar: here, on the ceiling, a site-specific artwork by the artist — a sinuous, luminous wave, just like wine slipping into glasses, gently swaying above the barrels. A spectacle for the eyes and the heart.
The Garda wines of Ottella: Lugana, Valpolicella and Amarone
And after an unforgettable experience of art and beauty, we can treat ourselves to a taste of their fine wines, white and red wines typical of the Garda region, such as Lugana, Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella, and Rosé.
For a tasting or an aperitivo, you can settle into the lounge with armchairs, a fireplace, and a glass wall overlooking the beautiful, colorful garden, because here landscape, art and nature converse, flowing in and out of the rooms and courtyards, in a unique, living embrace for each of your five senses.
Cantina Ottella is open and located in Loc. Boschetti – San Benedetto di Lugana 37019 Peschiera del Garda (VR), tel. +39 045 7550387
If you’d like to book a visit, contact our reception team: they’ll take care of organizing your journey through art and wine.
A delicate grape variety, a unique story: Cantina Selva Capuzza and a Tocai like no other, a wine unique to the lands of Lake Garda
Podere Selva Capuzza is an invitation to immerse yourself in the history and gentle nature of Desenzano, to discover a rare, endangered grape variety that the Formentini family has cared for and preserved for over 100 years: Tuchì.
From this comes a typical, unique wine of Lake Garda, San Martino della Battaglia Campo del Soglio, which carries in its aroma the strength and dedication devoted to this land.
Trust what you feel… is the only way to savor this wine authentically, without frills. Because there are no frills in the wines of Selva Capuzza: they are genuine and authentic, just like the land in which their vines take root.
A land of history, stretching from the origins of our lake, as witnessed by the stones along the estate, to Desenzano’s oldest church, the Church of San Donino, passing through the battlefields of San Martino and Solferino, where no fewer than two emperors and a king once fought.
Among the morainic hills of Garda, typical and unique wines
Leaving the lake behind, the car winds along the sinuous curves of roads that embrace the hills and accompany fields of honey-colored sheaves and emerald vineyards.
You’ll pass through woods and long natural pergolas, where the branches of the plants intertwine from one side of the road to the other, then emerge beyond the greenery, with the Tower of San Martino watching over you from above.
More than 100 harvests on Lake Garda
The journey here is part of the wines you’ll taste, because on this ancient estate, the Formentini family, with passion, dedication and determination, has preserved the history of this land, a wine unique to Garda, and a grape variety that was at risk of extinction: Tuchì, from which San Martino della Battaglia Campo del Soglio is born. It is one of the smallest and most endangered Denominations of Origin in Italy, but here it has found its guardians.
The Formentini family, having surpassed their hundredth harvest, decided among their 6 native grape varieties to protect and carry forward this delicate wine as well. A wine that whispers, like all the wines of this winery, wines that don’t seek the spotlight, but gracefully and discreetly work their way into your senses and stay there, warming your spirit and your life.
Walking between history and nature: the estate, the village and the nature reserve
The estate witnessed two incredible battles, San Martino and Solferino, which saw no fewer than two emperors and a king face each other on the battlefield.
As a testament to this, the Tower of San Martino rises in the distance among the vineyards.
After a glass of wine, you can make your way to the stone village of San Donino, home to Desenzano’s oldest church, dating back to 1280 and adorned with frescoes, its small bell gable, and the ancient altar. If you’re lucky, you might even spot a hare, a fox or a pheasant, all at home here, as the area is a nature reserve.
And don’t overlook the large boulders you’ll see: they’re witnesses to the Ice Age, when our lake did not yet exist.
Six native grape varieties for Lugana, San Martino and Garda Classico
Observe the 6 native grape varieties Turbiana, Tuchì, Groppello, Marzemino, Barbera and Sangiovese, which give life to Lugana, San Martino della Battaglia and Garda Classico wines. As the bottle is uncorked and the wine flows into the glass, you can already sense, in its aroma, its stubborn history, the will not to give up, to preserve the unique gifts of these hills and this land, to protect its identity and its tradition.
It comes at a cost, because the grape variety is fragile and the grapes delicate, requiring more care and attention, more strength and more love — and that’s perhaps why, when you taste it, it’s not just aromatic and mineral notes that delight your senses, but something more: that feeling that only passion and heart can give, the same feeling that the wines, like the fruits of our land, of our Lake Garda, know how to offer.
Cantina Selva Capuzza is open and located in Località Selva Capuzza, 25015 Desenzano del Garda (BS)
Would you like to experience the story of Tuchì firsthand? Ask our reception team, and they’ll take care of booking your visit to Selva Capuzza.
A journey into the history of Lugana: Ca’ de Frati
Legend tells that in the heart of Lugana there once stood a house, the house of the friars, who cultivated the vine here for the wine of the Holy Mass. It was a straw-colored wine, a white wine of Lake Garda, with an intense flavor given by the clay-rich soil of that land, the land of Lugana. And right here, centuries later, Pietro dal Cero founded his farm and gave life to Ca’ de Frati, among the most renowned wineries for Lugana.
A new cathedral for Lugana
To honor this history, an incredible cathedral was built from scratch, with the work of local artisans, from blacksmiths to glassmakers. Once you pass through the doors of this winery, it will feel like traveling through history, accompanied during the tasting of Garda wines by the friars’ chants, as if they were right there beside you. On the lecterns, you won’t find books, but bottles of Lugana, Amarone and Rosé.
At the friars’ home
The room with the fireplace, where the children were born, is the oldest part of the winery and still preserves the old coat of arms of the friars; from there, passing through the more modern, cutting-edge section, you descend into the barrel cellar: a starry sky, with the friars frescoed on the walls, depicted tending to the vineyard work.
You’ll be left speechless every time, and with eyes full of wonder, you’ll climb back up, ready for the tasting in the Cathedral.
Not just Lugana: from I Frati and Brolettino to Ronchedone and Amarone
Renowned for its Lugana wines such as Brolettino or I Frati, you can also savor bold, intense reds like Ronchedone and Amarone, or the more delicate Rosé for an aperitivo.
Would you like to visit ‘the friars’? Ask our reception team to book a visit for you.