Lombardy
13 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required 
Wine area
Lugana and Lake Garda
Heavy clay flats on the southern shore of Lake Garda where Turbiana (Trebbiano di Lugana) makes age-worthy whites with marked salinity.
Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati
Ca' dei Frati sits at the southern tip of Lake Garda, in Lugana di Sirmione. The Dal Cero family has farmed here since 1939, on a vineyard first recorded in 1782. Four generations on, the estate still sets the standard for Lugana DOC built to age. Its Turbiana whites are made to keep. There is also a small Pietro Dal Cero Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, from Corvina grown over the border in Veneto.
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Wines from Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati
About Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati
The site is older than the family. A deed from 1782 describes a house with a cellar at "il luogo dei Frati", the friars' place, on the southern shore of Lake Garda. In 1939 Felice Dal Cero moved there from Montecchia di Crosara, near Verona. His father Domenico had been a winegrower, and Felice began farming the Turbiana vines around the house.
His son Pietro pushed the estate into the modern era. In 1969, the year the Lugana DOC was born, he bottled the first Casa dei Frati Lugana. The name later shortened to Ca' dei Frati. A working friendship with the wine writer Gino Veronelli helped set the course: Lugana as a wine of substance and time, not just a poolside refresher.
Pietro died in 2012. His wife Santa Rosa and their children Igino, Gian Franco and Anna Maria carried on, the fourth generation in the vines. Every plot is fermented on its own, so the cellar can read the lake-flat clay and gravel piece by piece. The parts are then blended into wines that stand up to years in bottle. The flagship I Frati and the single-vineyard Brolettino, both pure Turbiana, show that approach most clearly.
Beyond Lugana comes a wider Garda range. Pratto is a white IGT fermented in barrel. Rosa dei Frati is the rosé, and Ronchedone is a red of Marzemino, Sangiovese and Cabernet at 14% alcohol. The sparkling Cuvée dei Frati comes in white and rosé, made in the metodo classico. Tre Filer, a late-harvest passito, closes the list. The family also bottles a small Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG called Pietro Dal Cero. Its Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Croatina come from the Valpolicella hills above Verona, a quiet nod to where the family began.
The cellar is in Via Frati. The shop and tasting room open Monday to Saturday. The guided cellar tour is free and ends with a tasting of four wines. Book online in advance.
Plate I · LOMBARDY
Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati on the Lombardy wine atlas
Winery
Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati
Lugana di Sirmione, Brescia · Lugana and Lake Garda
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
1 bookable experience at Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati
1 tasting, checked by our editors.
Tasting & Tour
Cellar tour and four-wine tasting
About 30 minutes plus tasting
Free, booking required
A 30-minute guided visit through the production cellar followed by a tasting of four wines selected by the staff. Booking is required online and groups larger than six must contact the cellar at least ten days in advance.
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on cadeifrati.it
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Plan your visit
Via Frati, 22, 25010 Lugana di Sirmione, Brescia (Lombardia)
What Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati makes
Azienda Agricola Ca’ dei Frati's current bottle selection is led by Lugana DOC. The clearest grape signal comes from Turbiana and Marzemino.
Common questions
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Ca' dei Frati is in Lugana di Sirmione, in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, on the southern shore of Lake Garda. The address is Via Frati, 22, a short drive from the old centre of Sirmione.
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