Montedinove is situated on the area’s highest hill between the Aso and Tesino Valleys, at the foot of the Monti Sibillini.
An area of outstanding natural beauty steeped in the mystery of the Apennine Sybil, Montedinove is famous as the home to a long-established tradition of growing pink apples.
The pink apple of the Sibillini Mountains, one of the Piceno area’s three Slow Food presidiums (the other two are Sibillini pecorino and the soft olive of Ascoli) is an ancient cultivar which has been growing on these slopes at an altitude of 400–900 metres from time immemorial.
These small, irregularly shaped, and slightly flattened apples have a distictive pale green colour and pink blushes, sweet flesh and intense fragrance. They were of inestimable value in times gone by because they were harvested in October and kept until the spring, when their flesh was softer and even sweeter.
In more recent times, the Comunità Montana dei Sibillini agency has taken steps to revive the economic and cultural status of this ancient cultivar by replanting old ecotypes an area of eight hectares with cuttings from the few remaining old trees.
It has therefore been possible to save an ancient product which is not only rich in flavour and a typical product of the Sibillini Mountains, but is also healthy because it is subject to a rigorous quality control process.
The place of the pink apple among the typical flavours of the Sibillini Mountains is assured. With pecorino and chestnuts, the pink apple forms part of that undeniably wholesome tradition of eating in the Piceno mountain areas. Visiting local farms where this apple variety is grown is not the only way to sample the genuine goodness of this fruit, however: “Sibillini in rosa”, a food festival dedicated to the pink apple, will be held in Montedinove, right after the harvest.
Travel tips
Accommodation
Agriturismo Il Fienile
Contrada Valle, 1; 0736828276; il.fienile@tiscali.it
Agriturismo Le Grotte
Contrada Santa Maria, 0736828030; legrotte.montedinove@libero.it, www.legrotte.net
Eating out
La Valle dei Piceni
Via Colle Pigna; 0736829486
Oasi Biologica
Contrada Pignotto; 0736822326
La Collina degli Ulivi
Contrada Franile, 9; 0734671953; filoni.luigi@tin.it
What to buy
Terra di mezzo – Fruit
Contrada Dragone, 37; 0736828275; stefano.europa@inwind.it
Del Duca Antonio – Sibillini pink apples
Borgo San Tommaso; 0736828273
Events
