Giovannella Fugazza

Wine production at Castello di Luzzano in Rovescala, Italy, sits at the center of Giovannella Fugazza’s work, but the estate only makes sense against the earlier break that led her there. She described that shift plainly: she found “the deepest origins of Luzzano” in the 1980s, worked with archaeological teams, planted vineyards, created wines, and named them. The legal background is there too, by her own account: “I was a lawyer: I changed my life.”

At Castello di Luzzano, the craft is tied to a border estate Fugazza identifies without ornament: “This is the last estate on the border of Lombardy.” That position gives the work a clear frame—place first, then the decisions that shape how the estate reads in bottle. Naming is part of that method. For her Pinot Noir, she chose Umore Nero, a name she said was unusual on purpose and meant to hold two ideas at once: the juice of the grape and her own feelings toward the wine. In that choice, the practical and the personal stay in the same register.

Giovannella's signature wines include Umore Nero, Romeo Gutturnio Classico Riserva DOC, Sfacciata Malvasia Dolce Colli Piacentini DOC, Sommossa Bonarda Frizzante Oltrepo Pavese DOC, and