I’ll always remember my first sip of a Lugana wine.

My wife and I visited Italy for about a month in 2016. While in northern Italy, we visited the city of Bolzano. There, in a tiny wine bar, I spied a wine from a region I wasn’t familiar with – Lugana.

Of course, the wine geek in my wanted a glass. I was infatuated from the first sip. The wine was medium-bodied with a green apple, pineapple, mandarin orange, lemon zest and green almond character with very appealing combination of bits of salinity and wet stone.

I’ve been a Lugana lover ever since!

That wine was the 2014 Cà dei Frati Lugana I Frati.  Inspired by that wine, I wrote a piece entitled “Lugana:Italy’s (Mostly) Hidden Gem not long after we returned from Italy.

In 2020, I was among a select group of wine writers and bloggers who participated in the WineStudio Lugana “One Grape, Five Wine Styles “program – a deep dive into the region sponsored by the Consorzio Tutela Lugana DOC.

Energized by that experience, I shared “Why Lugana Should Be In Your Glass And On Your Italian Travel Itinerary“, which featured details about the region and its wines, plus my takeaways on both the wines and the Lugana lifestyle.

During the WineStudio, I tasted my first Perla del Garda wine:

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A post shared by martindredmond (@martindredmond) on Jun 9, 2020 at 2:15pm PDT

Tasting note: The 2018 Perla del Garda Lugana pours a pale golden yellow color with green reflections with green apple, pineapple, almond, mandarin orange zest and wet stone aromas. On the palate it’s medium bodied, with lively acidity and a lush texture with green apple, pineapple, mandarin orange, lemon zest and green almond flavors a hints of salinity and wet stone minerality. 100% Turbiana| 12.5% abv. Per Cellartracker average price – $15! This wine drinks well about its price! It was wonderful paired with Butter-Poached Shrimp with Fresh Tomatoes and Garlic.

At the time, little did I know that my raging wanderlust for a taste of the Lugana lifestyle would be satiated by the 2022 Wine Media Conference, and a pre-conference Lugana excursion, which included an exceptional tour and gastronomic lunch experience that featured eight Perla del Garda wines and was hosted by its President – Giovanna Prandini.

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Ten Questions with Giovanna Prandini

Giovanna Prandini earned a degree in Economics from the Università Bocconi. After graduating from University she started her own successful consulting firm in 1996.

She along with her brother Ettore, founded the Perla del Garda in 2006. Driven by Giovanna’s passion for and cultivation of excellence, resilience, and vision are why Perla del Garda is undoubtedly one of Lugana’s best wineries (and lives up to its name “Pearl of the Garda”)

In addition to producing all five types of Lugana DOP wines, Perla del Garda also produces Garda DOP wine and DOP olive oil, Chiaretto Valtènesi and Grappa.

She was instrumental in bring the 2022 Wine Media Conference to Lake Garda. She is also the president of Ascovilo, an umbrella trade association representing 13 different winery associations in Lombardy and a sponsor of the 2022 Wine Media Conference.

1. You come from a multi-generational farming family with roots in Verona. How long has your family been farming in the Lake Garda area? My family started farming in 1984 and the core business was milk. In the past the hills were not cultivated to obtain fodder for the cows, they were too steep and it was dangerous to work the land with tractors; for this reason my parents decided to do the analysis of the land and we discovered from the old cadastral maps that they had been vineyards and woods, so we have replanted vineyards and olive trees. Today we have more sectors on our farm: wine, olive oil and milk, as well as energy production thanks to a recent biogas plant.
2. Perla del Garda was founded in 2006, what were you doing before the winery was started, and what inspired you to start the winery? My parents were married in 1970 and settled in Brescia. My paternal grandparents were farmers and came from Ferrara di Monte Baldo in the province of Verona, then they sought more fertile lands, leaving mountain agriculture to become breeders in the Po valley. My maternal grandparents were egg traders and lived in Brescia but they went to the Milan market every week, the most important for their sector. Since childhood, my brother and I grew up on the farm loving agriculture and spending our childhood at the farm of our paternal grandparents, Castel Guelfo, which gave its name to our most prestigious sparkling wine, the Riserva dei Fondatori. My brother and I founded the winery in 2006. Before that, my parents sold the grapes and didn’t make wine. Despite having studied economics and law, first my brother Ettore and then I converted to agriculture and that gave rise to our “Perla del Garda” project.
3. What are your duties and responsibilities at Perla del Garda? I am an entrepreneur who loves the whole chain of my wine – from grapes to wine, and from the bottle to the consumer. Therefore, I do everything necessary to obtain an interesting product, which stands out in the market and to make it known through promotion. We are Independent Winegrowers, therefore as a producer I am active throughout the supply chain with the important contribution of my employees.
4. What inspired you to add sparkling wines to your portfolio of wines, and when did you start making sparkling wine? I have always been a fan of sparkling wines, first as a consumer, then as a sommelier and finally in my studies and research as a producer. I immediately understood already in 2006 that our soils were suitable and that the Chardonnay that my parents had planted could give us great satisfaction and so it was: our Millesimato 2009 was awarded as “Wine of Emotion” by Sparkle 2022, the prize most prestigious for the most complete guide of sparkling wines in Italy.
5. You produce many sparkling wines both from the Lugana DOP and Garda DOP, what motivated you to make sparkling wines from both areas? My journey began in 2006 with Chardonnay and in 2007 with Turbiana, two very different grapes but with great potential for both the Garda Dop and Lugana Dop appellations respectively. For many years we have produced only Magnum bottles, few but of great ambition. It was our customers who requested the production of sparkling wines in the 750ml format which I had not initially entered. Listening to customers and seeing that they like what you produce is the greatest satisfaction for us producers!
6. You produced two Lugana Spumante, one using the Martinotti Method, where secondary fermentation takes place in a tank, and one using the Metodo Classico where secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle.  Both are 100% Turbiana. What makes Turbiana a good choice for sparkling wine? Turbiana is a very versatile vine, as Luigi Veronelli said it is extremely pleasant in its youth and surprising in aging. I was not afraid to dare and our Lugana vintage for sale is from 2012, but it looks like a child! A new project of the classic Organic Spumante method has recently begun with grapes from a single vineyard …. in the end there are three of our Lugana Spumante DOP!
7. Perla del Garda is a gravity flow “sustainable” winery.  What are the advantages of a gravity flow winery and what makes your winery sustainable? The advantage of vinification by gravity consists in respecting and protecting the primary aromas of the grapes from the beginning, moving the must gently and without pumps avoids aromatic dispersions and allows us to obtain a more intact, more complex product. We were the first in the area, now other colleagues have also followed this path.The sustainability certification has been one of the pillars of our production, not only our attention is turned to the environmental impact of our work but also to the social issues of inclusiveness and to the economic ones therefore even during the pandemic we paid all our suppliers and our employees .
8. Your bottles are beautiful! What made you decide to go with an unconventional bottle shape? My desire was to give a signal that something new had entered the market in 2006, I dared and at the beginning not everyone appreciated the very innovative design but today the special bottle is part of our brand and our recognizability.
9. What do you find most exciting about the future of Perla del Garda?The future of Perla del Garda will be the result of the commitment of those who work today in the vineyard and cellar. Our wines will be drunk in ten years or more and we hope they can still tell something interesting and original. I think that every producer is an artist who interprets the vintage and tries to express all the potential that nature inspires.
10. Which of your wines are available in the United States? I have the pleasure of exporting both Lugana DOP and Garda DOP wines, I must say that we have recently received great attention on our sustainability path and recently also exported wines obtained from organic grapes as well as those awarded with the Tre Bicchieri del Gambero Rosso and Suckling with excellent scores.The American market is an extraordinary opportunity for us to meet consumers who want to know “Made in Italy” and appreciate the effort of our work

Grazie mille Giovanna! You’re a rockstar!