From Garda with love

When Sergio Zenato and his wife Carla founded their winery in 1960, they had two clear goals in mind: to promote the native varieties of the vineyards around Lake Garda, and to be good custodians of the land itself.

Both of those elements have been a spectacular success.

Lugana roots

The winery’s home is the Santa Cristina estate in Lugana, near the southern shore of Lake Garda, a natural amphitheatre of gentle slopes and water-retaining clay soils. Combined with the cooling influence of the lake itself, it’s a fine spot for growing white wine.

Zenato’s focus has always been the native Trebbiano variety. It was once known primarily for producing light, fresh wines, but Zenato had higher ambitions for it.

When the winery was founded, the Lugana DOC was barely established, whereas now – thanks in no small part to Sergio Zenato’s vision and dedication – it is known around the world for quality white wines.

Purity of expression

There are several great expressions of the variety. Zenato’s San Benedetto (from the vineyard of the same name) is full bodied and structured, with flavours of dried apple, pineapple and pear.

Santa Cristina, from older vines (50 rather than 30 years old) at a slightly higher altitude, is a beguiling combination of citrus, peach and pineapple with a fresh, mineral finish.

Both of these wines express Trebbiano’s pure fruit flavours. But the Riserva Sergio Zenato adds both later picking and 18 months in oak into the equation, to create a fuller-bodied wine with flavours of flowers, citrus, white plum and vanilla.

With concentration, finesse and balance, as well as approachability, these are all wines that can age for several years, to develop even more complexity.

From white to red

For lovers of red wines, Zenato has you covered there too. The Tenuta Costalunga estate is about 40km from Lugana, in the heart of Valpolicella. And just as the company makes classic indigenous white wines south of Lake Garda, to the east it makes classic reds.

On the calcareous stony soils of this ancient land, ringed by dry stone walls and dotted with olive trees, Zenato grows Corvina, Rondinella and Oseleta to make high class Valpolicella and Amarone.

There are many to explore, but the Ripasso Superiore – made by running Valpolicella over Amarone skins – is a wonderful example boasting notes of red fruit, spices and chocolate.

The magnificent Archivio Storico Amarone, made only in the very best years and in limited numbers, is a lodestar for the DOC.

Whether in Lugana, Valpolicella or its estate in Bolgheri, Zenato curates its land carefully. It has an Equalitas Sustainable Winery certification, and is signed up to the Adapted Biodiversity protocol, with 250,000 bees kept on its vineyards!

The estates are well worth a visit – or you can buy the wines yourself to see how good these local grapes can be in the hands of passionate experts.

Learn more about Zenato

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