Villa Massa Limoncello

Villa Massa (30% alc/vol) is a brand of limoncello (sweet lemon liqueur) produced in the Sorrento peninsula of Italy.

Villa Massa, founded in 1991 by brothers Stefano and Sergio Massa, is the Italian manufacturer of the traditional lemon liqueur from Sorrento, also known as limoncello. From 2006, the company is part of the family owned Grupo Zamora S.L.U.

History

The traditional Liquore di Limone di Sorrento Villa Massa has its origins in a family recipe that goes back to 1890 when the Massa family used to offer their guests a liqueur made with fresh lemons from the family grove; Faithfully conserving and respecting the ancient family recipe, the brothers Stefano and Sergio Massa, decided in 1991 to create the company that carries the name of the family estate.

The Villa Massa estate, one of the agricultural and residential properties of the Massa family, historically rooted in the zone, is found in Piano di Sorrento, in the very heart of the Sorrentine peninsula near the city of Naples.

In the year 2000, the oval lemons of Sorrento (in Italian, limone di Sorrento) used in the production of Villa Massa Limoncello gained the acknowledgement of Protected Geographical Indication (P.G.I.) by the European Union. In 2006, the liqueur made from these lemons also gained recognition as its own category: "Liquore di Limone di Sorrento". Only these manufacturers are allowed to utilize the seal for this accolade, feature the name "Sorrento" on their bottle or use the imagery depicting the region.

Production

After being hand-picked, the lemons are carefully transported to prevent even the slightest damage and, within a maximum of 24 hours of harvesting, they are peeled to obtain a very fine layer of zest, reducing the extraction of white pith as much as possible, to prevent the liqueur from having an excessively bitter after-taste.

The zest is then macerated in alcohol, to allow the essential oils of the skin to impregnate with it with all the flavors and aromas that are characteristic of the limoncello. After a few days, the infusion is ready to be strained and filtered several times, at a constant temperature, and mixed with purified water and sugar.

It then needs to rest for the correct amount of time, and the corresponding quality control is carried out before it reaches the bottling stage.

Certificates & identifications

Cocktails

It is traditionally drunk ice cold as a digestivo or also as an aperitivo if mixed with other ingredients like sparkling water or prosecco and herbs like basil.

Villa Massa Tonica

History

Villa Massa Tonica was naturally created out of the fashion of tonic water being mixed with other spirits.

This serve is usually presented as a fresh drink to be consumed in restaurants and bars as aperitivo.

Villa Massa Tonica is made of Villa Massa limoncello, tonic water and basil.

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References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/15/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.