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There are recipes that tell the story of a place better than any map. Not because they require special ingredients or complex preparation, but because they were born right there, in those homes, with whatever nature had to offer.
In the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines, after a day spent in the woods or fields, local families would often enjoy an amaro. Not just any amaro, but that amaro—the homemade one, prepared with locally gathered herbs and guarded by the family as their own recipe, because everyone had their own!
Indeed, every family had their own "Sturalavandini," each with a different recipe handed down and refined over time. Knowledge rooted in the mountains and their plants, gathered nearby and turned into an amaro with a bold character. It is from this tradition that the story of Sturalavandini di Falterona 1654 was born.
Among the many family recipes of the Apennines, the one belonging to the Pini family of Fossa di Pian del Grado was chosen to be bottled, preserving its strong, bold character.
And there is a detail here that speaks volumes about this recipe: it does not seek sweetness to make the taste more approachable. Sturalavandini is made from a pure infusion of wild herbs and berries hand-picked in the mountains, with no added sugar, stevia, honey, or other sweeteners.
Features
Its character comes directly from the botanicals. Gentian and milk thistle bring the bitter notes; wild juniper from Mount Falterona, along with mint and thyme, adds a fresh, balsamic component. Lemon peel introduces a tart, citrus note, while bay leaf contributes to the herbaceous depth and a long-lasting finish.
I like to think about how much the journey of this recipe has changed: once born in a mountain home through family tradition, today that same story can be contained in a bottle, continuing to speak through the ingredients that compose it. Even the name retains something of that domestic dimension. “Do you want to try my Sturalavandini?” was the phrase used to offer this amaro at the end of a meal. Not a product to showcase, but something personal: my Sturalavandini, my family's.
Perhaps that is precisely where this story becomes interesting. Because behind a bottle we can find a recipe, sure, but also a way of telling the story of a land. The harvested plants, the hands that select them, a family guarding a recipe, and a mountain that, season after season, continues to offer its ingredients.
How to enjoy it
Sturalavandini can be enjoyed at room temperature or slightly chilled, neat, or with a small amount of ice to soften its intensity. The key is to sip it slowly, without rushing. Let the bitter notes of gentian and milk thistle arrive first, then slowly discover the freshness of juniper and mint, the herbaceous notes of thyme and bay leaf, and the citrus touch of lemon peel. It is an intense and persistent amaro that takes its time to unfold.
Some recipes are not created to become famous, but to belong to someone. And when, many years later, they find their way into our homes, they can still hold on to a piece of that family, those mountains, and that unique way of doing things.