Cà dei Frati

Cà dei Frati – Buy wine online

In our online shop, you can buy Cà dei Frati wine online; of course, we stock the flagship wine Il Frati, but also the Brolettino Lugana, which is aged in wood and can mature well, the splendid Rosa dei Frati, a rosé wine made from Groppello, Marzemino, Sangiovese, and Barbera, as well as the Ronchedone, a powerful, velvety red wine that shows that wine from Lake Garda doesn't automatically have to be white wine.

Cà dei Frati – Winery from Italy

Cà dei Frati is a winery from Italy. Since 1939, Lombardy has been the home of the Dal Cero family, who have been running the winery for 80 years now. The Cà dei Frati winery is located in Sirmione, one of the most beautiful places around Lake Garda, not far from the largest of all Italian lakes. The landmark of Sirmione and at the same time the most popular excursion destination for tourists is Scaliger Castle, a water castle built in the 14th century and almost completely preserved, situated on a peninsula extending about four kilometers into Lake Garda. However, not only the extraordinarily beautiful landscape enjoys great popularity, but also the good wine from Lake Garda. Above all, the Lugana, a fresh, fruity white wine from the indigenous Turbiana grape variety.

The young Felice Dal Cero recognized the great potential of this hitherto underestimated grape variety as early as the 1940s. He had just moved with his wife Edvige from Valpolicella to Sirmione to buy an old farm, whose roots go back to a 16th-century monastery, and initially operate a mixed agricultural business with livestock and arable farming. But the farm in Via Frati also included a few rows of vines with a variant of the Trebbiano grape, the Turbiana.

This had perfectly adapted to the sub-Mediterranean climate with hot summers and mild winters. On the heavy clay soils with calcareous glacial deposits near the lake, the grape, if its growth is kept in check, produces mineral wines with aromas of citrus fruits and almonds with a balanced acid structure. The grape variety produces such excellent qualities here that the area was declared Lugana DOC in 1967. Pietro dal Cero, who took care of the vineyards on his parents' farm, played a key role in the creation of the DOC.

Just two years later, the Cà dei Frati winery launched its first bottled wine, Il Frati Lugana DOP. Until then, the winery, like many other wineries, sold its wines only as anonymous bulk goods. A Lugana hype was still a long way off, but the awarding of the DOC was a big step towards quality wines that would attract national and international attention.

Today, the winery is run by Pietro's children: Gian Franco ensures healthy grapes in the vineyards, his brother took over the cellar work, and Anna Maira, Pietro's daughter, manages sales. The Il Frati Lugana from Cà dei Frati is considered one of the best Lugana, indeed one of the best white wines in Italy.