Limoncello Il Convento

Limoncello from Massa Lubrense with lemons from the monastery garden

Limoncello il Convento is a lemon liqueur from the Sorrentine Peninsula, cold-macerated from the peels of the Ovale di Sorrento variety. There are 350 grams of lemons in every liter, significantly more than the protected designation of origin requires.

The Limoncello il Convento comes from Massa Lubrense in Campania and is made from three things: alcohol, sugar, and lemon peel. Only fruits of the Ovale di Sorrento variety are used—the ecotype behind the protected "Limone di Sorrento" designation. As stipulated by the production specifications, the fruit is harvested by hand.

Only the peel, only cold, no shortcuts

For Limoncello, only the yellow part of the peel counts. The white pith underneath carries a bitterness that no one wants, and it must therefore be left exactly where it belongs.

The peels are removed by hand and steeped cold in pure alcohol for eight to ten days, in stainless steel containers and without heat. This is called cold maceration, and it is strictly required for the protected designation "Liquore di limone di Sorrento." Afterward, it is strained and diluted to drinking strength with cane sugar dissolved in water.

The production specifications require at least 250 grams of whole lemons per liter. Il Convento uses 350 grams. This number explains more about the liqueur than any adjective: it is dense, intensely lemony, and tastes of fruit rather than flavoring.

In the glass, it is a vibrant yellow and slightly cloudy, because the essential oils of the peel precipitate when diluted. A clear, glassy Limoncello has usually been filtered, and some of the aroma is lost along with the sediment. This cloudiness is therefore not a flaw, but a hallmark.

Ice-cold from the freezer after a meal

Limoncello belongs in the freezer, not the cupboard. At sub-zero temperatures, it becomes thick and velvety without freezing, and that is exactly how it is drunk in Campania.

It is served in small, also pre-chilled glasses after a meal—just a finger's width, no more. It is fresh rather than perfumed, pleasantly tart in the background, and not as sweet as many industrial bottlings. Lemony, cool, with a fine bitterness at the end.

Furthermore, it can be extended: with Prosecco and ice for a Limoncello Spritz, poured over vanilla ice cream or lemon sorbet, in a tiramisu instead of coffee, or as a splash in a lemon cream. Topped with Prosecco, it makes the aperitif with which every evening begins on the Amalfi and Sorrentine coasts.

The Pollios and a 14th-century monastery

It all started in 1935, when the farmer Antonino Pollio bought the land that the monks had previously cultivated. Wine, olive oil, and rosolio were produced there first; lemons were added later and gradually became the main business.

The name comes from the neighboring 14th-century monastery, where the Order of Minims lived. The lemon gardens of the peninsula lie beneath pergolas of chestnut wood and nets that protect the trees from wind and cold—a construction method that has remained the same for centuries. Today, the family business is run by the next generation, Peppe Pollio.

The liqueur itself has only existed since 1995. Until then, the business was simply a fruit farm; then the family decided to process their own lemons into Limoncello, and they stuck with it. It is brought to the German shelf by Antonio Viani; you can find more in this category under fruit liqueur and in the Italy collection. The grandfather probably never would have expected this to become a dedicated branch of the business in thirty years. Ice cold, yellow, a finger's width. You can't get more "South" in a glass.