Montonale farms a handful of hectares at the southern edge of Lake Garda, on the Lombardy side, and Orestilla is the estate's single-vineyard white. The grape is Turbiana, known elsewhere around the lake as Trebbiano di Lugana, and it is the only variety Lugana DOC allows.
- Turbiana, the sole grape of Lugana DOC.
- Lugana DOC, Lombardy, south shore of Lake Garda.
- 2021, a warm year that kept the acidity high.
- Dry, medium-bodied, 13.5% alcohol.
- Clay soils left behind by a retreating glacier.
How it is made
Lugana sits on the morainic hills south of Lake Garda, ground the glacier left behind: heavy clay, rich in minerals, holding water through a dry summer. Turbiana ripens slowly here, keeping its acid while it builds flavour, which is why the wines hold their shape for years rather than fading by spring.
How it tastes
Pale yellow with golden edges. White peach and citrus zest lead, then pineapple and gooseberry, and behind them a stony, flinty note that comes off the clay. The texture is medium-bodied and rounded, but the acidity is high and stays high, so it finishes dry and clean with a touch of almond.
Good to know
Turbiana was long thought to be the same grape as Trebbiano di Soave and Verdicchio, and DNA work eventually confirmed the relationship. Lugana earned its DOC in 1967, one of the first in Lombardy to be carved out for a single white grape rather than a red.
