Since the Roman empire, Lugana has been made from the Trebbiano grape.  As Rome collapsed in the 6th century, the new order of barbarians developed a taste for the local wines.  Deodatus, king of the Goths, is reported to have ordered great quantities of Lugana wine for his feasts and followers.  One can imagine rough casks of Lugana wine, probably far sweeter than today, carted slowly south over Roman roads to  the halls of the invaders.

This is a wine simply made for fish.  The restraint of the wine –and its origins by the great lake of the Veneto — ask for flounder or sole, served simply with capers.  Or oysters.  Or anything from the sea.

Lugana would embarrass many of us in a blind tasting.  You could mistake it for a chardonnay — an ingenue Chablis, perhaps.  At a fraction of the price, one could put up with the humiliation.  You will find this beautiful wine at Dedalus for $14.50.

Tuta  7/15/09