Lugana Wine Region: Ancient History, Strategic Location, and Tradition
“Jagged by water rivulets, swamps, reed beds, and small lakes where large wild boars drank, deer, roe deer, fallow deer, and ibex roamed, and flocks of birds of all species soared”: this was how “la Lugana” was described in the past, a zone in the southern inland of Lake Garda from Desenzano (BS) and Peschiera (VR), from Pozzolengo (BS) to Lonato (BS). The name originates from Lucaria, Lucanus, a distortion of “lucus,” meaning forest. In fact, until the 13th century, the area was a large woodland, ending in the northern part toward the lake, with an immense reed bed. Others believe that the adjective refers to “lacus lucanus,” meaning lake of the woods, or to “lacuna,” meaning lagoon. A document from 771 indicates the place as “licana”.
Strategic Position and History
A natural strategic junction between Lombardy and Veneto (Venice), crossed by a major Roman road near the one descending from the Alps, it has witnessed conflicts and battles on its soil. In 249, Decius defeated his rival Philip. In 268, Claudius defeated the Goths. In 312, it is believed that Constantine defeated Maxentius after the vision of the cross and the motto “in hoc signo vinces.” In 400, the forest was traversed by Alaric, and in 461, Attila and the Huns passed through, traditionally believed to have been defeated here by Leo I.
In this area remain indelible and ancient traces of the land reclamation carried out by monastic communities in the Middle Ages at San Benedetto di Lugana, San Vigilie di Lugana, San Martino di Lugana, and Sirmione. These places represent the heart of the current production zone. Seeds of vines were found in the palafittic zone bordering this southern part of the lake, although this does not clearly indicate a widespread wine-growing activity.
Wine Activity and Production
The activity appears to date back between the 7th and 5th centuries B.C., when the Etruscans, extending their domain up to the Po Valley, introduced the use of wine. The Latini (Virgil, Suetonius, Strabo, Pliny) left many accounts about the Retic wine produced on the first slopes of the Rezi, between Como and Verona, including Lugana. However, it is difficult to assert that it was the same wine produced in this area.
An interesting episode narrated by Quintarelli concerns a banquet offered by the father of the rebellious Catullus to the divine Caesar, to seek forgiveness for certain epigrams written by the poet son against the dictator. Caesar himself remembered the Retic wine he drank fondly, to the extent that in antiquity it earned the nickname “Panacea of Garda”.
Catullus owned lands along Garda, and his stunning villa in Sirmione is still visitable today, known as “Le Grotte di Catullo.” In the 16th century, agronomist Agostino Gallo first specifically mentioned the “Trebulane” grapes of Lugana, which are considered the ancestors of the modern Trebbiano grape variety.
Over the centuries, there have been substantial changes to the clone of this variety. Evidence of this is that only in this clay-limestone area does the Trebbiano grape reach a particular maturity, giving the resulting wine unexpected qualities of high quality and typicity.
Andrea Bacci, physician to Sisto V and botany professor in Rome from 1567 to 1600, mentions the wines of Garda in his work “De Naturali Vinorum Historia.” He specifically wrote that “delicious Trebbiano wines are produced between Desenzano and Peschiera.”
The historian—living legend—Luigi Veronelli describes Lugana as: “Drink your Lugana, young, very young, and enjoy its freshness. Drink it after two or three years and appreciate its completeness. Drink it after ten years, and you’ll be stunned by its composed authority.”