Both native and international grapes have grown around Lake Garda, Italy’s largest lake, for hundreds of years. Long ago, the presence of red wines of Lake Garda (Gardo clareto) and their consumption was noted as early as the Renaissance, when Pope Leo X commented on their quality. The landscape and geology are ideal for viticulture. The near Mediterranean climate and unique terrain have made this possible. The geology of advancing and retreating glaciers left deposits rich in morainic and silty/morainic soils, the same soils prized for production of the region’s Lugana white wines. The lake’s thermo-regulating influence and temperate microclimate make more than viticulture possible, as the area abounds in diverse crops, including lemon, orange and citron trees, together with olive groves and capers.