I Vini del Lario, il dossier del 7^numero della nostra rivista.
Wine, one of the most popular alcoholic beverages throughout the world, is defined as a product obtained from the fermentation of the fruit of the vine, the grape, or must. What perhaps not everyone knows is that our territory, too, can boast of respectable wine production, with fine wines that already in past centuries accompanied the banquets of nobles and others. From the Brianza area of Lecco, all the way to the upper lake, there are many producers who over the years have worked hard to produce a wine that reflects to the palate the characteristics of grapes that are typical and exclusive to the Larian territory.
The wines of Lario territory
Without going too far into technical considerations that we leave to the experts in the field, we can say without risk of contradiction that the wine production around Lario is quite varied and able to show its quality in both white and red. The white is produced from grapes of the Verdese bianco (the only historically local grape variety), Chardonnay, Pinot bianco, Riesling, Sauvignon and Trebbiano from Trebbiano toscano, while for the red Barbera, MCabernet, Sauvignon, Merlot, Marzemino, Croatina, Sangiovese and Schiava are used. Several versions are offered, from dry to sweet, from bubbles to passito, not forgetting the novello.
Characteristics common to all the productions are freshness, flavor and longevity, wines that are very matchable with the gastronomic culture not only of the lake, but also of Brianza. Each individual winery then focuses on the personalization of its wine, linked both to the characteristics of the grapes produced in a given area, but also to the specific production process that is chosen to make the most of the raw material, giving each wine its own distinct identity.

Terre Lariane IGT Consortium Wineries
THE QUESTION: What is the most complex wine to produce?
The answer is Claudia Crippa, president of the Terre Lariane IGT Consortium:
“Definitely sparkling wine, which is becoming increasingly popular in our area thanks to the characteristics of freshness, flavor and acidity that we find in our grapes, which are very suitable for sparkling. Complex because the oenological process of production requires greater knowledge of microbiology and chemistry, with temperatures to be respected to the degree centigrade in order to then have an optimal final result, as well as with regard to humidity and all those related parameters that come into play. It should be noted that our method of sparkling wine making is the classic method, with re-fermentation in the bottle, and not Charmat, which uses the autoclave instead.“
The book
“Wine Civilization on Lake Como” is the title of a work by Leo Miglio, the son of Gianfranco Miglio, a jurist, academic and politician from Como, as well as a senator of the Italian Republic, who was personally involved during the darkest period of wine production in the Lake Como area, in restoring its fortunes.
The book, published in 2017 and which Leo began writing a full 13 years earlier, is a true summary of the history of wine in Lake Como. Leo, a full professor of the Physics of Matter at the Department of Materials Science at the University of Milan Bicocca, followed his father’s passion by carrying on the work of the family vineyards in Pozzolo di Domaso, where he planted a number of Rhaetian grapes, later handing over to his friend Emanuele Angelinetta, who with his winery is one of the members of the Terre Lariane IGT Consortium.
In his book, Miglio takes an overview from the past to the present, also looking to the future, of what wine in the Como area has been, is, and will be. All this is done in a fictionalized form, also delving into the everyday life in the vineyard, illustrating techniques and practices of wine production.