It’s certainly one of the most important brands in the Lugana area. But lately Perla del Garda is also emerging as a point of reference for the Garda sparkling world: the recent conquest of the Five Spheres Award, the highest recognition of the “Sparkle” italian guida, for the Garda Chardonnay Castel Guelfo Riserva dei Fondatori Extra Brut 2007 has clearly opened up new opportunities in the future of this winery, which in 2016 will cut the milestone of the first decade of activity.
“Receiving an award so important for this kind of wine was not easy – says Giovanna Prandini, who leads the winery in Castelvenzago, near Lonato del Garda, with his brother Ettore (also known as leader of Coldiretti Brescia and Lombardy but also national vice president of the organization) -. Surely, however, it is a nice way to kick off the festivities for the first ten years of life of Perla del Garda “.
Ten years which were certainly very challenging, marked by progressive development of a company that started with an activity focused on the sale of grapes, but which has grown to become a reality characterized by a network of independent marketing but also by a path of gradual, painstaking improvement of product quality.
“Our connotation was from the outset closely linked to the identity of the Lugana – says Giovanna -. We enjoy the challenge of playing with our native grape and to present it in different versions. This is why our range today includes all the wines provided by the regulations, even the less popular as the Riserva, Metodo Classico or Vendemmia Tardiva”.
Perla del Garda is now a 30-hectare vineyard farm: 23 are historical, and have been joined by another 7 in more recent times. The company makes wine exclusively with its own cultivated grapes, in order to certify the entire production chain from the beginning with a specification of internal traceability. In ten years, production has doubled, starting from the initial 60,000 bottles to get to the current 120,000. There are spaces to grow again, but the goal is to stick to a dimension in line with the original agricultural vocation.
“We’re not interested in becoming simply a brand – says Giovanna -. We prefer to work and grow in the parameters of a real environmental sustainability: for this we have introduced certified protocols to reduce the impact of production on the territory, and in this project we have also started a process of partial conversion to organic. Currently the project covers only 4 hectares, which will be certified in all respects with the harvest of 2016, allowing us to hit the market with the first organic production in 2017 “.
Even this seems destined to become an additional source of interest for Perla del Garda, which already today has been able to make his way in the market with a range of 15 labels led by six Lugana Doc.
“Our moraine hill in the town of Lonato has a special geomorphological profile who initially gave different shades to our Lugana – says Giovanna -. The soil where we grow our vines are limestone and minerals, so different from the traditional clay territories near the lakes: for this we have always tried to give evidence to the nuance that could emerge only in this border area south of the Doc, which is also characterized by a different exposure with greater ventilation and more extensive guarantees of sanity for the grapes harvested. I must say that in these last ten years vineyards have grown very extensively near our winery: a sign that maybe we were not the only ones to believe in the peculiarities of this area. ”
2015, as already mentioned, has brought to Perla del Garda some major awards: the Lugana Reserve 2013, for example, has won the highest recognition given by italian sommeliers of the Ais association. And then came the aforementioned Five Spheres for Castel Guelfo: an extra brut with 72 months of aging, produced only in magnums, that demonstrates the versatility already achieved by the company. “In this case, the Lugana, which remains our core business, has nothing to do because the grapes used are only Chardonnay – says Giovanna -. But this wine is very important for us: suffice to say that we wanted to call it by the name of the farm of Castelletto di Leno, in the province of Brescia, where our grandparents have taught me and my brother Ettore love and respect for the countryside. It will definitely be our label of choice for 2016 “. And as if to confirm the will to experiment, Giovanna announces for 2016 the Filorosso, a 100% Merlot four hand made with famous winemaker Gianfranco Fino.
The bottle.
The range of Perla del Garda, we said, is very large and full of potential surprises: 6 Lugana, one rosè, three reds, four sparkling wines Metodo Classico, one passito … But the highlight of the production, the one label which better identifies the winery, is probably the Lugana Reserve Madre Perla: a large and complex product, which comes from grapes harvested in vineyards when ripening is slightly advanced, vinified in steel through the batonnage technique for a full 12 months on lees . The wine rests in bottle before the arrival on the market at least two years after harvest: the currently sold vintage, 2011, tells the full potential of Lugana as a durable, aging white wine, to discover absolutely also in this more mature and evolved version, possibly paired with a lake fish risotto.
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