Missing Rosolio di Mandarino

Often, at the end of a particularly productive or difficult day, my husband and I indulge in a sip of some treasured Italian liquour. We were honored at my husband's last business trip overseas to receive a gift of Mirto di Sardegna, a strong berry liquour. Our best friends in Milano like to vacation in Sardegna (Sardinia) each summer, so Mirto is a favorite of theirs that brings back good memories of those precious weeks each year when they can relax. We adore the Mirto too, and the bottle that they gave to us this past March is the best brand (Bresca Dorada) that we have ever tasted.

What we continue to miss, though, is an orange liquour that we acquired back in 2004 when these same friends drove us up to a gloriously beautiful abbey north of Milano, near Lake Como. The abbey was Abbazia di Piona, and the monks that live there are able to support themselves entirely by selling what they make (food and art), and take no money from the Vatican. On that trip, we came away with a bottle of Rosolio di Mandarino - mandarin orange-flavored liquour - and a large print of a photo of the abbey and its inspiringly-beautiful grounds. We had that print framed and it hangs in our home, continuing to bestow its beauty on our everyday lives.

These days, years later, the empty bottle of Rosolio di Mandarino also has a place of honor in our home. I think we keep it around mostly so that we can continue to look for it, just in case we find someone here in the states that can help us get some. Anyone who is a fan of bottle art would enjoy its design, too. The label and cap are elaborately decorated in an old-world style. If the appearance of a bottle of liquor could be described as romantic and historically European, I think that would come close to how this bottle looks to me.

Because the taste was so amazing - sweet without being cloying, vibrant orange yet sophisticated - and its origin so rare, I have a feeling that we will just have to plan on our next trip to Milano to make the trek up the mountainside to L'Abbazia di Piona and purchase a case to be shipped back home. It would be worth it.

http://www.terraincielo.it/monasteri/3923.php - Abbazia di Piona