Lugana - Il Gruccione - Nunzio Ghiraldi

In the heart of the Lugana cru of Sirmione, the Ghiraldi family has been cultivating vines since 1953.

It is right here, at Podere Sant’Onorata, that Nunzio Ghiraldi’s wines are produced. A 20-hectare estate planted entirely with Turbiana, the grape variety that, according to the Ghiraldi family, represents Lugana’s identity. The vineyards range in age from 15 to over 60 years.

Turbiana is an ancient and noble grape variety, capable, according to Ghiraldi, of producing wines with structure and personality. The family works these vineyards using integrated viticulture, without herbicides and with mechanical weed control.

The winery is located inside an ancient 17th-century farmhouse, where historic structures coexist with modern winemaking technologies. The grapes are processed using pneumatic air-bladder presses, and the must ferments in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks.

On the nose, it is rich and complex: ripe white peach, apricot, linden blossom, toasted almond, candied citron, delicate vanilla, and a chalky, saline minerality that is more intense and persistent, evoking the deep clay soils of the lower Lake Garda area. On the palate, it is structured and creamy, with pronounced savoriness, precise acidity, and a long, elegant, persistent finish with notes of bitter almond and candied citrus. A Lugana that shows how much this grape variety and this terroir can surprise when an artisan producer gives it their all.