Lugana has been a DOC since 1967, among the first recognised in Italy. The zone lies on the southern shore of Lake Garda and crosses an administrative border: the larger part sits in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, a smaller portion in the province of Verona, in Veneto. It is one of the few appellations that ignores the regional boundary entirely, which is why it turns up filed under either.
The grape is Turbiana. It was long confused with Trebbiano di Lugana and assumed to be identical to Verdicchio; analysis has since established that it is related to Trebbiano di Soave. The decisive feature of the territory, though, is the soil: compact white clays of morainic origin that hold water and return wines with body and an acid structure unusual for a lakeside lowland white.
Hence an aging capacity that catches people out. Basic Lugana is citrus and almond, but the Superiore, with a year of aging, and the Riserva, with twenty-four months, develop flint and dried-fruit notes and handle five or ten years without difficulty. A late-harvest version and a sparkling one also exist.
