Lake Garda is situated on the border between Lombardy and Veneto and is Italy and Europe’s largest lake. Lombardy’s Garda and Lugana appellations, between the lake itself and the town of Brescia, form a gently rolling landscape of great charm and tranquility that has fascinated countless poets and writers through the centuries, from the Latin Catullus, to Dante to Goethe, Lord Byron, Gabriele D’Annunzio, James Joyce and others. Thanks to the lake’s mitigating presence and typically glacial soil structure, this is the world’s northernmost territory benefiting from a near-Mediterranean climate, abounding in vineyards, lemon, orange and citron trees, olive groves, tangerines and capers. So mild is the climate that the waters are warm enough to bathe in from May through September. Yet its surface intriguingly reflects the surrounding Alpine crags and steep, snow-crowned slopes in the distance. The lake’s thermo-regulating influence, the temperate microclimate and unique terrain are extraordinary. The first known mention of a Garda Clareto goes back to the Renaissance, when Pope Leo X commended its qualities. Closer to our own times, the Garda Bresciano DOC was approved in 1977. There are different versions: a white, a red, and a characteristic light red called Chiaretto (Pope Leo’s favorite). Both red and Chiaretto are blends of the native Groppello with Marzemino, Sangiovese and Barbera, with possible additions of other red varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. South of the lake, adjoining the Garda appellation, is the delightful DOC zone called Lugana, with similar landscape and geology: morainic and silty/morainic, rich in glacial deposits. Here, the latter are extremely fine-grained, conducive to the wine’s structure and fragrance. Lugana DOC is white only, from 90 to 100% Trebbiano di Lugana grapes. The appellation was one of Italy’s very first, as early as 1967. The Verona-born poet Catullus enjoyed Lugana white whenever he left Rome for his spectacular family villa overlooking the lake, at Sirmione.Lake Garda is situated on the border between Lombardy and Veneto and is Italy and Europe’s largest lake. Lombardy’s Garda and Lugana appellations, between the lake itself and the town of Brescia, form a gently rolling landscape of great charm and tranquility that has fascinated countless poets and writers through the centuries, from the Latin Catullus, to Dante to Goethe, Lord Byron, Gabriele D’Annunzio, James Joyce and others. Thanks to the lake’s mitigating presence and typically glacial soil structure, this is the world’s northernmost territory benefiting from a near-Mediterranean climate, abounding in vineyards, lemon, orange and citron trees, olive groves, tangerines and capers. So mild is the climate that the waters are warm enough to bathe in from May through September. Yet its surface intriguingly reflects the surrounding Alpine crags and steep, snow-crowned slopes in the distance. The lake’s thermo-regulating influence, the temperate microclimate and unique terrain are extraordinary. The first known mention of a Garda Clareto goes back to the Renaissance, when Pope Leo X commended its qualities. Closer to our own times, the Garda Bresciano DOC was approved in 1977. There are different versions: a white, a red, and a characteristic light red called Chiaretto (Pope Leo’s favorite). Both red and Chiaretto are blends of the native Groppello with Marzemino, Sangiovese and Barbera, with possible additions of other red varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. South of the lake, adjoining the Garda appellation, is the delightful DOC zone called Lugana, with similar landscape and geology: morainic and silty/morainic, rich in glacial deposits. Here, the latter are extremely fine-grained, conducive to the wine’s structure and fragrance. Lugana DOC is white only, from 90 to 100% Trebbiano di Lugana grapes. The appellation was one of Italy’s very first, as early as 1967. The Verona-born poet Catullus enjoyed Lugana white whenever he left Rome for his spectacular family villa overlooking the lake, at Sirmione.