Azienda Agricola PiediperTerra
IGT Terre Lariane No tasting room
A small biodynamic farm at the top of the lake, production and sale. Ring first; there is no tasting room.
The lake
The vineyards
Wine is made on the lake's own terraces again, by a handful of small producers under the Terre Lariane indication. Here is who they are, where they are, and which of them will receive you.
8 producers, 5 receive visitors
The lake grew wine for centuries and then almost stopped. The terraces that climb behind Domaso, Gravedona and Colico were planted with vines until the twentieth century took the people who worked them, and by the 1990s a few families were keeping a plot for the house. The Terre Lariane indication, recognised in 2008, gave the ones who replanted a name to sell under.
What has come back is small. The whole indication, across the provinces of Como and Lecco, bottles fewer than two hundred thousand bottles a year, and most of that is in the Brianza hills south of the lake. On the water itself there are the producers below: two at Domaso, two on the Montecchio hills at Colico, one each above Varenna and Nesso, and one at the top of the lake. Several receive visitors, by appointment, and a tasting on a terrace at Domaso with the whole upper lake in front of you is one of the better afternoons here.
The office keeps this list. Where a producer says they receive visitors, ring first: these are farms, and the person who would show you round is usually in the vines. If you know a vineyard that is not here, tell us.
Filled pins receive visitors by appointment. Hollow pins make and sell wine but have no tasting room. Click a pin to go in close: the green parcels are the vines themselves, 153 of them, from Regione Lombardia's land-use survey of the 2021 aerial photography. The names are the few that OpenStreetMap carries.
Gera Lario
Domaso
Azienda Agricola Sorsasso
IGT Terre Lariane Receives visitors
The largest of the lake's producers, on the terraces above Domaso since 1997, with vines in Domaso, Gravedona and Dongo. Tastings of the wines and the lake's specialities by appointment, and an agriturismo with two dining rooms, the Cantinone and the Crotto, for lunches and dinners.
Wines. Domasino red, white and rosé; two sparkling wines; Cantine del Lago
Cantine Angelinetta
IGT Terre Lariane Receives visitors
A family production turned professional by the next generation. There is a sales room at the winery; ring before going.
Wines. Five labels from the sandy slopes above Domaso
0344 490095info@cantineangelinetta.comcantineangelinetta.com
Colico
Azienda Agricola Del Risti
IGT Terre Lariane Receives visitors
A great-grandfather's plot on the Montecchio Sud promontory, replanted with Pinot Nero in 2020 and farmed naturally, with bees and salami on the side. Tastings among the rows with a sommelier, one or two hours, with a minibus from the Piona beach car park; booked on their site.
Wines. Pinot Nero (Breva)
Tenuta Montecchio
IGT Terre Lariane Receives visitors
Two hectares of vines on the Montecchio Nord hill under the fort, planted by the grandfather in 1946 and revived from 2012, looking over the Pian di Spagna. Guided visits of the vineyard with a tasting, booked on their site.
Wines. Merlot (Rosso del Forte, Tana di Volpe), Chardonnay (Le Bressane), a rosé and a metodo classico
Perledo
Festorazzi, Terre del Lariosauro
IGT Terre Lariane No tasting room
A single terraced vineyard at 450 metres above Varenna, facing west over the lake, on a farm that also makes cheese. Ring to ask about a visit.
Wines. A Merlot blend with native varieties; one label, about 1,500 bottles
Veleso
Cascina Teresina
IGT Terre Lariane and IGT Alpi Retiche Receives visitors
The only vines in the Triangolo Lariano, on steep terraces above Nesso worked by hand, alongside a century-old Nebbiolo vineyard in the Valtellina. Tastings and vineyard visits by reservation at the agriturismo at Erno, above Veleso.
Wines. Nebbiolo from Teglio in the Valtellina (Ghiba, Bagai); Damara, a resistant-variety blend from the Triangolo Lariano
San Fermo della Battaglia
Tenuta Ronco Regio
IGT Terre Lariane No tasting room
An old cascina at 500 metres in the hills west of Como, at the edge of the Spina Verde park, with a replanted vineyard and an agriturismo. The wine goes to a handful of restaurants; ask when staying.
Wines. Sanfermino, about 1,500 bottles