Only the taste of the local dishes and products can give you the opportunity to fully understand the spirit of the region.

 

The lake's micro-climate favours the cultivation of fruit, vegetables, olives, but also the breeding of cattle, ensuring the excellent quality of local food and wine. Lovers of fine cuisine and wines can enjoy the territory of the Riviera del Garda and Moreniche Hills consortium all year round.

 

15 restaurants in Desenzano, Sirmione, Lonato and Padenghe are listed in the most important good food guides (Gambero Rosso, Guida Michelin, Guida L'Espresso). Here one can taste good wines to  accompany a dish of lake fish or meat from the Morenici Hills, all prepared with olive oil produced locally. Local desserts are a must for those who have a sweet tooth.

Both white and red wines are produced in the Riviera del Garda district.

 

Lugana Doc, Lugana Superiore Doc and Lugana Spumante Doc. This wine comes from the grape Trebbiano Lugana which grows on stratified limestone clay, rich in minerals. The Lugano area is situated in the hinterland of the southern shore of lake Garda. It stretches from Desenzano to Sirmione and Peschiera, reaches out to the suburbs of Verona, and continues to Pozzolengo and Lonato.

 

S. Martino della Battaglia Doc and sweet S. Martino della Battaglia Doc.

This wine is named after the town where the historical battle was fought on 24 June 1859.

This area stretches south of Lake Garda, continuing through the dry and rocky hills where the Tocai Friulano, which is the main (80%) grape of this wine, grows. This pleasant, aromatic wine, especially the sweet version, has a limited production and its richness is a result of the techniques used in making it.

 

Garda Classico Doc. This is a wine with an old and long-standing tradition, the denomination includes a vast territory from  Sirmione to Limone, bordering the province of Trento. This wine is intense and fragrant, unadulterated and sincere, like the land and the people, who produce it. Garda Classico Doc includes the grapes of Groppello and Groppello Riserva, Reds and Superior Reds, Chiarettos and Whites.

 

 

Fishing is very popular on Lake Garda. Species available are perch, pike, bleak, and white fish. The flavour of the fish is brought to the full when accompanied by local wine.

 

Selected cold meats and cheeses are produced from special pigs and romagnola cattle, bred on the luscious pastures of the Morenici hills. This cattle was awarded a prize for the best breed of meat at an International exhibition in Paris in 1900. Worth noting are the  Morenico De.C.O (doc) salami and the salami of Pozzolengo which is produced from beef of romagnola cattle.

 

Internationally known for its organopleptic properties, and for its nutritional value, the Olio del Garda Doc, is produced in the hills in the vicinity of Garda. It is of optimal quality and its delicate taste should be enjoyed directly where it is produced; you only need to book a visit to the ancient and modern oil presses where the oil can be purchased as a souvenir or for consumption.

 

For centuries ancient traditions of the Garda region have been used for the production and processing of olives, and the industry thrives up to this very day. Olive oil has been rediscovered recently as a staple ingredient of the Mediterranean diet. In reminiscence of days past one can assist in olive harvests and oil production.

 

Tourists who choose Riviera del Garda and Colline Moreniche find hospitality, friendliness and the pleasures of ancient tradition. Originating from the simple cuisine of the past, the recipes of typical sweets such as the Pozzolengo spelt flour biscuit, and the fried Saltarelle of Padenghe are typical farmers' sweets which have been handed down from generation to generation.