Lentini, Sicily, Italy
Russo Family Citrus Estate.
- Founded
- 1908
- Generations
- Four
- Country
- Italy
- Specialty
- Single-estate blood orange juice
The Story
Vincenzo Russo planted the first thirty trees on the Lentini estate in 1908, on land bought with the proceeds of a single good harvest. His great-granddaughter Giulia now runs the twenty-two hectares with her father Paolo. The family has refused mechanisation in every generation. Picking remains by hand, pressing remains by the same cold-press installed in 1962, and the juice still leaves the estate within nine hours of picking.
The Craft
Three cultivars — moro, tarocco, sanguinello — picked in three sequential windows between late December and early April. Cold-pressed at 14°C. Bottled the same day, stamped with the harvest date.
Recognition
- · IGP Arancia Rossa di Sicilia (since 1996)
- · Slow Food Presidium
- · Connoisseur Reserve House Producer since 2014