Sirmione: Winery Tour & Lugana DOC Tasting with Local Pairings

4.92

(122 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I didn’t expect to feel so at home at Sgreva. Maybe it was the way Anna waved us in, or just that soft Lake Garda breeze carrying a faint smell of grass and something sweet—grapes, I guess. We started out in the vineyard, shoes crunching on gravel while our guide (Anna’s cousin? She said everyone here is family) pointed out these old vines twisting up from the earth. She told us about Lugana DOC wine like she was sharing a secret recipe—her hands kept gesturing to the soil as if it might chime in.

The cellar was cooler than outside, almost damp, and honestly I could’ve stayed there for hours listening to stories about how her grandfather started bottling wine back in 1960. There’s this underground room lined with barrels—oak and chestnut, all smelling faintly of vanilla and something deeper I couldn’t name. I tried repeating “Pozzolengo” after her (the cheese), but she laughed kindly at my accent. It felt good to be let in on their jokes.

When we sat down for the tasting, I realized how hungry I’d gotten just smelling everything—the salami was peppery and rich, bread still warm somehow, honey floral and sticky. Each glass of Lugana DOC tasted different; one reminded me of green apples, another more mineral. Anna poured carefully and waited for our reactions—she seemed genuinely curious what we’d think. There wasn’t any rush; we just talked about their land, how weather changes the grapes year by year. The light through the window made everything look golden for a minute. I still think about that view sometimes.