Morello Austera

The small village of Cantiano is tucked away in a deep valley of the Apennine Mountains near the border of the Marche region with Umbria. The small village of 2,400 inhabitants has an Alpine feel to it because of the steep mountains and thick forest surrounding it. The forest is filled with wild apple, pear, plum, mulberry, sour cherry, and chestnut trees, as well as a thick carpet of blackberry, raspberry and wild strawberry bushes. During the foggy Autumn months the forest is a treasure chest of porcini mushrooms, and even the precious white truffle.

Most of the villagers in Cantiano have a tradition of gathering and preserving the wild fruit from the forest to enjoy during the cold winter months. This tradition inspired our friends Ivan and Igor Lupatelli to build a small laboratorio on a steep 4 hectare piece of land right outside Cantiano. Every year they plant little off-springs from trees of amarene (sour cherries), referred to as Visciole in Cantiano, and also known as the dark-red morello cherry. Together with a small team of friends, Ivan and Igor forage the forest and gather the fruit which is used in making Morello Austera preserves and syrups.

Preserving wild fruit is not an easy endeavor. Compared to conventional fruit, wild fruit is fragile and soft, so Ivan and Igor have to carefully preserve it to keep the essence of the fruit alive. Three important elements make Morello Austera's preserves unique: the quality of the wild fruit, the balanced amount of sugar, and the short time of pasteurization. Ivan and Igor are very proud of the amarene in syrup.