Winemaker Notes
Known locally as Turbiana or Trebbiano di Lugana (genetically identical to Trebbiano di Soave), this non-aromatic white variety acts as a transparent lens to its landscape. Expect a striking mineral-like character with developing honeyed notes and citrus fruits veering to the orange fruit spectrum. Lugana wines are often marked by high acidity and can often benefit with a few years of evolution.
Turbiana pairs naturally with lake fish prepared with minimal ingredients. Crudo, especially fatty fish and scampi are ideal matches for the high acidity to offset richness.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A sleek, well-knit white, with hints of smoke, butter and vanilla that enrich flavors of baked pear and apricot fruit, mandarin orange peel and lemon thyme. Clean-cut and minerally on the finish.
There are hundreds of white grape varieties grown throughout the world. Some are indigenous specialties capable of producing excellent single varietal wines. Each has its own distinct viticultural characteristics, as well as aroma and flavor profiles.
Producing every style of wine and with great success, the Veneto is one of the most multi-faceted wine regions of Italy.
Veneto's appellation called Valpolicella (meaning “valley of cellars” in Italian) is a series of north to south valleys and is the source of the region’s best red wine with the same name. Valpolicella—the wine—is juicy, spicy, tart and packed full of red cherry flavors. Corvina makes up the backbone of the blend with Rondinella, Molinara, Croatina and others playing supporting roles. Amarone, a dry red, and Recioto, a sweet wine, follow the same blending patterns but are made from grapes left to dry for a few months before pressing. The drying process results in intense, full-bodied, heady and often, quite cerebral wines.
Soave, based on the indigenous Garganega grape, is the famous white here—made ultra popular in the 1970s at a time when quantity was more important than quality. Today one can find great values on whites from Soave, making it a perfect choice as an everyday sipper! But the more recent local, increased focus on low yields and high quality winemaking in the original Soave zone, now called Soave Classico, gives the real gems of the area. A fine Soave Classico will exhibit a round palate full of flavors such as ripe pear, yellow peach, melon or orange zest and have smoky and floral aromas and a sapid, fresh, mineral-driven finish.
Much of Italy’s Pinot grigio hails from the Veneto, where the crisp and refreshing style is easy to maintain; the ultra-popular sparkling wine, Prosecco, comes from here as well.