'L Lac

The family’s first land at Frassino

The origins of 'L Lac lie in agricultural land once owned by Luciano Piona, grandfather of the generation that later established the estate. The property stood at Frassino, beside Lake Frassino in the Lugana area. Luciano Piona was also the founder of Cavalchina and the initiator of the family’s wine-growing activities.

Luciano’s son Giulietto subsequently sold the Frassino property to support the enlargement of La Prendina. The family therefore left the land while continuing its wine-growing activities elsewhere.

Return to Lugana in the early 2010s

Franco and Luciano Piona, Giulietto’s sons and Luciano’s grandsons, returned to Lake Frassino in the early 2010s. They acquired the same vineyards that had belonged to their grandfather, reconnecting the project directly with the family’s earlier presence in Lugana.

'L Lac became the latest addition to the family’s estates. It was conceived as a very small, single-product Lugana property, with its vineyard on the banks of Lake Frassino in the historic heart of the denomination. Its limited scale and production were positioned around a concentrated interpretation of Lugana rather than volume.

The acquisition followed a period in which Franco and Luciano had refined a technical philosophy intended to help nature express itself while preserving continuity between vintages. Technique was understood as a means of maintaining the identity of the wine from year to year, without overriding the vineyard or territory.

The present range

The estate remains centred on its Lugana identity and its Frassino vineyard. Its current range also includes 'L LAC Rosato, although no date is given for the introduction of that second wine.

Yields are deliberately maintained below the vineyards’ productive capacity. The objective is to obtain healthy, concentrated grapes with high sugar levels rather than maximise volume.

The Lake Frassino Turbiana vineyard is trained to double Guyot. Its grapes are harvested manually toward the end of September and carried in 200 kg containers.

The Corvina and Syrah vineyards are trained to single Guyot. Their fruit is harvested in the first weeks of September, about two weeks before the maturity required for conventional red-wine production. This earlier picking date is intended to retain acidity and freshness for rosato production.

Lugana production

Turbiana is harvested by hand toward the end of September. The bunches are destemmed and lightly pressed. After the must settles naturally, fermentation lasts 10–15 days at a controlled temperature of 16°C. The wine then remains on its lees and fine yeasts until bottling.

Rosato production

Corvina and Syrah are crushed and destemmed, then held in the press for pre-fermentation maceration at 8–10°C. The must obtained by natural run-off is clarified by static settling and fermented in stainless-steel tanks at approximately 17–18°C.

Malolactic fermentation is completely inhibited. The wine is transferred to barriques of varying ages and matures on its fine lees for 6–8 months before bottling. The combination of Syrah and wood maturation is used to add structure and complexity while retaining the acidity, balance and sapid expression associated with Corvina and the morainic soils.