Lake Garda in northern Italy is that country’s largest lake and a popular holiday destination. Italians call it Lago di Garda or Lago Benaco. It is located roughly halfway between Brescia and Verona, and Venice and Milan on the edge of the Dolomites, between the Alps and northern Italy’s Pianura Padana (the Po River Plain). The shoreline touches the provinces of Verona (to the south-east in the Veneto), Brescia (south-west, in Lombardy), and Trento (north in Trentino Alto Adige). The lake was formed at the end of the last Ice Age.

The name: Garda is named after the eponymous town, Garda deriving from ‘warda’, a Germanic word term meaning a place of guard, observation, or safety.

Terroir: Mild climate, especially for a northerly region. ‘A mediterranean spot in the north.’ Hence palms, oleander, fruit trees, olive trees and vines thrive.

Wines: Garda DOC. | Garda Classico DOCG.