Garganega Delivery or Pickup

When it comes to choosing a wine, whether for its aroma, flavor, or color, the lesser-known Garganega lives up to many expectations as both a lovely table wine as well as an accompaniment for rich, flavorful desserts. Shop a wide selection of Garganega wines and place one in your cart to enjoy with lunch or dinner.

Garganega was once quite a popular white wine choice, but it lost some of its fame with the onset of other well-liked white wines like Pinot Grigio and Chianti. It has been praised since the sixth century, when a statesman proclaimed garganega grapes were “white and pure as a lily.” The garganega grape variety is not typically included on bottle labels, and with a name that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, you can understand its lack of recognition.

Today, Garganega is reclaiming its position in the wine world and gaining popularity once again. Produced in the regions of Veneto and Sicily, Garganega vines cover over 27,000 acres. They are the most widely planted grapes in the region and the sixth most planted in the entire country. 

Soil types and growing conditions can affect Garganega yield and taste, especially in the late-ripening region of Sicily (Grecanico Dorato), where acidity and sweetness are affected. Warmer-growing regions produce crisp versions with a citrus or stony flavor, while cooler areas yield more acidic, tart wines. Aging plays a role as well. Whether Garganega has been aged in oak barrels, fruit-forward, or steel aging affects the grape's flavors, but not its deliciousness.

Garganega white grapes provide a generous yield, primarily because of their loose-knit bunch structure that increases ventilation and reduces the risk of fungus. The wine's moderate acidity promises beautiful aromas in high concentrations, allowing for a different quality balance in every bottle. Its moderate acidity makes Garganega perfect for producing sweet recioto wines that can improve with bottle age over the course of a decade or more. Garganega grapes are typically used as a minor ingredient in the making of Spumante, a sparkling wine.

Garganega is the main grape used to make soave (Veneto region) and Grecanico Dorato (Sicily region). Recently, DNA testing confirmed the grapes in Veneto and Sicily are linked genetically and capable of producing the same wine. Soave is a light wine, with around 11.5% alcohol by volume. Grecanico Dorato comes in slightly higher at 12.5% alcohol.

Garganega is a minor blending ingredient in dry white or sparkling wines in some areas, although it isn't typically blended. In fact, although regulations dictate that Soave and Grecanico Dorato wines must contain at least 70% of the grape, most are 100% Garganega.

Garganega is known to be dry, but can produce sweet wines as well. The sweetness comes from the harvest of late-season grapes or through the aging process.

Garganega produces lovely aromas like:

Sweet wines promise flavors of: