Sollucchero - a delightful
cherry dessert wine / digestif

Our first offering - Sollucchero

A delightful cherry dessert wine / digestif called Sollucchero.

Monte Valentino is an agriturismo run by Nicola (think Nicholas) Polchi and Fabrizia Gargano which you can find high above the road linking Umbertide and Petralunga. An amazing drive up the “white” road brings you to a characterful borgo with magnificent views and what must be one of the highest swimming pools in Umbria, if not Italy.

The borgo is 300 years old, but Nicola and Fabrizia restored it in 1996 to create the agriturismo.
July each year sees Nicola and Fabrizia harvesting their Visciole cherry trees from the lower slopes of their land. Visciole cherries are quite small and exceptionally tart.

The Visciola cherry tree grows wild and its cultivation was a favourite of the Italian contadini or rural peasant farmers of the past. Fabrizia and Nicola have taken the wonderful wild, spicy Visciole to a new level with their exquisite Sollucchero.

They hand collect the Visciole cherries at their peak of sugar production, which is in early July when the cherry skins just start to wrinkle. They then macerate the bitter cherries and blend with a base of Rosso Orvietano wine the same day to ensure the rich, spicy essence of the visciole cherry is captured by the wine. The wine spends several months in cold fermentation and is finally filtered and blended with a bit of alcohol and a touch of sugar to offset the bitterness of the Visciole. "We then bottle the wine and let it age for 9 months before releasing it," says Nicola.

Sollucchero is heavenly by itself as a dessert wine, but its sweet spiciness goes particularly well with blue-veined cheeses like gorgonzola. Sollucchero is also out of this world with dark chocolate and wonderful drizzled on vanilla gelato.

Where to buy Sollucchero: Contact us by email by clicking .

Visiting Monte Valentino: Monte Valentino is just off the connecting road between Umbertide and Pietralunga, just north of Perugia. You can reach Fabrizia via . Fabrizia and Nicola share their home with up to 10 people as an Agriturismo that is open year-round. Find out more on their website at www.montevalentino.it