WooMigrator 12 May 2025

Why Truffles Deserve More Than Wine

For over 20 years, I worked as a sales representative, traveling throughout northern Italy. Because of this, I spent little time in my hometown and lost touch with my peers and fellow villagers.

When I stopped this activity to dedicate myself with passion and in the best possible way to the world of truffles in the Lake Garda area, I started collaborating with local producers of wine, extra virgin olive oil, cheeses, meats, lake fish, and artisan pasta. In this new journey, I reconnected with people from my region and built new relationships tied to the culinary excellences of Lake Garda.

🌳 The changing agricultural landscape of Lake Garda

More than anything else, I was struck by the profound change in the agricultural landscape. Once, these fields were dominated by corn, wheat, alfalfa crops, some vineyards, and many small woods where, as a boy, I would ride my bike or souped-up mopeds along those dirt country roads, avoiding the village streets.

I lived in Carzago della Riviera (BS) and my cousin lived in Bottenago, a hamlet of Polpenazze del Garda (BS); those country roads were the shortcut connecting a part of Carzago's countryside to the Bottenago hamlet.

Recently, with the good weather, I returned to those places by bicycle. I was amazed: today the countryside is tidy, well-kept, covered with vineyards, so much so that it looks like a garden. But I no longer recognize it: the small woods have disappeared, the fields with rotation crops are gone, there are only vineyards.

I wonder, is there only wine?

🍷 The paradox of Italian food and wine

Why is almost exclusively wine discussed in food and wine? Why is wine given such priority? Especially in areas like Lake Garda? Why is so much priority given to wine, neglecting other excellent products?

Wine is fine, but there's more than just wine to offer and talk about to consumers. The magical territory of Lake Garda, a region that offers many emotions, also offers DOP extra virgin olive oil from Garda, historic citrus fruits, typical cheeses, Slow Food lake fish, caviar, casoncelli, Brescian spit-roasted meat, honey, Lake Garda Truffle, cured meats, and local sweets. Yet, in tourist communication and promotion, almost only wine is discussed.

What's behind wine production? If there are so many varieties of wine in Italy, it makes me think that there's a large profit margin for wine-producing agricultural companies. Is that so?

Here I raise a very important question, often overlooked in discussions about Italian food and wine: why does wine receive almost all the attention, to the detriment of other excellent products?

🍷 Why is almost only wine discussed in food and wine?

Wine is codified "culture"
It has a written history, regulations, consortia, guides, classifications (DOC, DOCG, IGT), and its own terminology. It's easy to make it the subject of a narrative.
High symbolic and economic value
It's considered a status symbol, an investment product, collectible, judged by experts. This attracts media and financial attention.
Strong lobbies and aggressive communication
The wine sector has very powerful promotional structures: Vinitaly, protection consortia, international events, public and private funds for promotion abroad.
Ease of export and long shelf life
Wine, unlike many fresh or artisanal products, can be exported anywhere, has a long shelf life, and wider market margins.
Wine tourism
Wine has given rise to a true tourism industry (wine resorts, visitable wineries, tastings), while many other products struggle to build comparable experiences.

💰 What’s behind wine production?

High margins (on average)
Yes, wine can be very profitable, especially in the mid-to-high and premium segments. Bottles sold for 10–30 euros often have a relatively low production cost.
Economies of scale and marketing
Large wineries can produce millions of bottles, invest in international marketing, and leverage the "Made in Italy" image.
Public contributions
The wine sector benefits from European contributions (CMO Wine), promotional funds, incentives, and grants for export.
Cultural added value
Wine allows for storytelling: the grape variety, the land, the vintage, the producer... all this adds value and "justifies" a higher price.

🍷 In summary:

Wine is only one part of Italian food and wine, but thanks to a well-structured economic and communicative network, it has established itself as a symbolic product.
Many other products (like those from Garda) deserve more visibility, and are often more connected to the land and less "colonized" by marketing.
Consumers can make a difference by choosing to discover, value, and request other flavors, stories, and traditions as well.

🌳 Truffles from the Lake Garda region: an unconsidered resource

is a hidden gem, underestimated and almost entirely ignored by the great Italian gastronomic narrative.

In the hilly areas of Garda, particularly in the regions between Brescia, Salò, Tignale, Valtenesi, Alto Mantovano, and even in the morainic hills, various truffle varieties grow naturally, both white and black, even if they are less famous than those from Alba, Acqualagna, Norcia, Spoleto, etc. Yet:

The calcareous soil and the lake microclimate are ideal for truffle growth.
The presence of mixed woods of oaks, hornbeams, hazelnuts, and holm oaks creates favorable habitats.
Natural caves and truffle plantations are documented, some even historical.

Yet, Lake Garda truffles are completely absent from much of the area's tourist and food and wine communication.

🍽️ Truffles: the perfect bridge for food and wine

Truffles have extraordinary versatility: they can be paired with all the great products of a region, becoming a link between different gastronomic worlds, for example:

🧀 With cheese (toma, stracchino, bagòss…)
🐟 With lake fish (truffle whitefish, a treasure of flavor…)
🥩 With meat (cotechino, beef with olive oil, spit-roasted meat…)
🍝 With typical first courses (casoncelli with butter and truffle…)
🫒 With DOP extra virgin olive oil, which enhances its aroma
🍷 And, of course, with local wines (Groppello, Lugana, Chiaretto, Marzemino…)

👉 Truffles are not just a luxury product: they are an ecological, cultural, and sensory symbol. They represent roots, slow time, seasonality, respect for the soil, sustainability.

❌ Is wine really sustainable?

☠️ What chemical treatments are used in vineyards?

In conventional viticulture, there is extensive use of plant protection products, in particular:

Fungicides – against powdery mildew, downy mildew, botrytis (e.g., copper, sulfur, systemic products).
Insecticides – against grape berry moth, leafhoppers, mealybugs.
Herbicides – often glyphosate-based to keep the under-row clean.
Chemical fertilizers – to stimulate growth and production.

In a conventional vineyard, up to 15-20 treatments can be applied per year, depending on the climate and pest pressure.

🌍 Environmental consequences of these treatments:

Soil pollution: chemical residues accumulate and alter beneficial microfauna.
Contamination of groundwater: compounds, especially nitrates and glyphosate, can infiltrate and contaminate drinking water.
Loss of biodiversity: beneficial insects, pollinators, and earthworms are harmed or destroyed.
Resistance of pathogens: the overuse of plant protection products induces resistance, leading to the use of ever-increasing doses.
Residues in grapes and wine: even within legal limits, chemical residues can end up in the finished product, also affecting consumer health.

🎬 The film “Trifole – Le radici dimenticate”: denunciation and beauty

On October 17, 2024, Trifole – Le radici dimenticate, directed by Gabriele Fabbro, was released in cinemas. In February, I published a short preview of the film on this blog. I also attended the preview presentation at Grinzane Cavour Castle. It was an exciting adventure set in the evocative world of truffles. A touching story in many ways, I thought this film would bring to the big screen an engaging story that reflects on the importance of nature and family ties, and so it was. I invite everyone to see this film and to understand all the messages, warnings, and lessons of the film.

The film Trifole – Le radici dimenticate narrates the crisis of the precious white truffle in the Langhe: the causes of its disappearance – such as deforestation, agricultural intensification, and climate change – are the same that threaten the presence of truffles throughout Italy and well beyond. This does not only concern Alba, Roero, or the Langhe, but affects the entire national truffle ecosystem, from North to South, and not only the Tuber Magnatum Pico, but many other truffle varieties.

Already in my first article published on April 21, 2020, an alarm was raised, citing scientific research that stated:

“In 50 years, truffles could disappear”.
A warning that today, just a few years later, unfortunately appears increasingly concrete.

🚨 The Truffle alarm: a real crisis

Recently, an article about the film Trifole – Le radici dimenticate (Trifles – The Forgotten Roots) appeared, along with an alarm from Alba and Roero and the International Alba White Truffle Fair, regarding the poor production of the valuable White Truffle, Tuber Magnatum Pico, due to the lack of forests.

The film Trifole – Le radici dimenticate and the tragic 2024-2025 season of the valuable white truffle in Langhe and Roero intertwine in a single concrete and symbolic accusation: the progressive disappearance of the truffle is not just an agricultural or commercial problem, but a tangible sign of a deep ecological and cultural crisis. The film, with its emotional narrative and strong recall of rural memory, is rooted in the same reality denounced by truffle hunters: once flourishing forests have been cut down to make way for intensive crops, altering millennial balances that ensured humidity, biodiversity, and the delicate natural cycle of the Tuber magnatum Pico.

The phrase "NO TREES, NO TRUFFLES," forcefully invoked by lawyer Roberto Ponzio, founder of "Museo del Tartufo-Galleria dei Ricordi" (Truffle Museum-Gallery of Memories), resonates even more urgently today, in light of the worst season in forty years, where truffles have become almost impossible to find, prices have skyrocketed, and there is a concrete risk of losing an emblematic symbol of the territory. Institutional measures – such as plant census, funds for truffle ground restoration, and indemnities for owners – are not enough without a collective awakening: a more forward-thinking landscape management is needed, one that re-centers trees, forests, and the complexity of forest ecosystems. The Truffle, a spontaneous and irreproducible product, thus becomes the silent spokesperson for a natural balance that we are breaking, but which we can still try to save with responsible choices, care for the territory, and new cultural and economic models.

We cannot simply excuse ourselves by saying that climate change is to blame. The fault is ours! Also because of aggressive and monocultural economic models.

…The granddaughter, arriving from London, admires the landscape and describes it as ‘beautiful’. The grandfather, admirably played by Umberto Orsini, scolds her and disapproves, regretting a past time when these lands were rich in trees and forests, whereas now they are covered only by vineyards.

An example of how cinema can serve as a catalyst for urgent social debates.

🌳 Trees improve our lives and agriculture

The massive elimination of forests in favor of intensive crops like vineyards has certainly contributed to local microclimatic change, and indirectly, to global climate change.

Forests play a crucial role in regulating climate:

They absorb CO₂ and release oxygen, contributing to the natural cooling of the atmosphere.
They maintain soil and air humidity through evapotranspiration.
They protect the soil from erosion, promoting biodiversity and ecosystem health.
They mitigate thermal extremes and protect groundwater.

When forests are replaced with monocultures like vineyards:

The land's ability to naturally regulate heat and humidity is reduced.
The use of chemical pesticides and herbicides pollutes soil and water.
The soil, less shaded and covered, overheats and loses fertility.
The capacity to absorb rain is lost, contributing to landslides and floods.

Conclusion

It's not just the global climate that is changing, but we are changing the local climate through our land-use choices. So yes, the loss of forests has had (and continues to have) an enormous impact. And this is not a nostalgic reflection: it is a concrete matter of environmental and agricultural balance.