Our farm, Monte Valentino, is located in Umbria near the village of Pietralunga on the hills between Gubbio and Città di Castello, next to the Appennino Umbro-Marchigiano mountain range.
After 40 years of neglect, Monte Valentino used to produce nothing else but berries from the wild plants infesting its fields. In 1996 we fell in love with this magical place that overlooks a truly beautiful landscape, as we knew that Monte Valentino could become once again a proper and productive farm. With many long, arduous days of hard work bringing it back to a new life, our farm now extends for more than 50 hectares (125 acres) and includes lush woodlands, fertile fields and productive orchards. In our fields we grow many types of grains and vegetables, and we also collect firewood from the wood lots.
In these days, mountain agriculture unfortunately does not allow small farms like ours to make a decent living, unless the farm makes truly high quality and unique products that people enjoy. As part of our rejuvenation of this ancient mountain farm, we decided to introduce organic farming methods and, most importantly, plant a special orchard filled with “Visciolo” trees, an ancient wild variety of the sour cherry tree (prunus cerasus) which grows naturally and prolifically in this part of Umbria.
We searched the countryside looking for the healthiest young trees, cultivated them lovingly and planted them in our new orchard. We now have nearly 500 productive “Visciolo” trees, which has become the new heart of Monte Valentino.
With great care and hard work, we now make our unique liqueur ”Sollucchero” from the “Visciola” cherries that now grow in abundance here at Monte Valentino, following an ancient recipe adored by the locals and developed over 100 years ago by the old chemist of Pietralunga.
“Sollucchero” translates loosely from the Italian as “I become enraptured,” and we believe that is how you will feel when you taste our delicious and unique liqueur.