Zonzo Winery shares secret family recipe to launch world’s first ‘Zoncello’ limoncello spritz and liqueur

Zonzo Winery founder Rod Micallef’s ‘Zoncello’ limoncello spritz and house-made limoncello liqueur legacy recipe has long been a well kept Micallef family secret passed down and enjoyed through generations.

Until today.

The much loved Micallef family recipe and Yarra Valley’s iconic Italo-inspired Zonzo Winery’s greatest passion project yet has launched, with the world-first ‘Zoncello’ limoncello spritz and house-made limoncello liqueur now available for purchase online nationwide on Zonzo’s website.

Since 2005 Micallef has been working to establish Zonzo as a Yarra Valley destination. In 2007, Zonzo Restaurant opened its doors and in 2015, Micallef acquired the surrounding property which included 45 acres of vines, and renamed the precinct Zonzo Estate. Since then, the team has expanded Zonzo’s repertoire to boast a restaurant and wedding venue, working farm and winery. 

More than 100 staff members work across the board in Zonzo Restaurant, in the vineyard, on the farm, the warehouse and in the winery, which is the manufacturing facility.

Mr Micallef said he had decided that it was time to share the recipe with Australia, with hopes to offer it internationally in the future. The ultimate vision is for the Zoncello range to take off and create their own distinct identity, paying homage to the winery but external to its grounds.

“The first time I tried limoncello was in my early 20’s, which I helped make with my friend and his father. I keenly learned the recipe, and have kept making it ever since at home for my loved ones. Now, I want to share the magic with everyone and anyone who’s seeking out the Zonzo experience at their place, or with us onsite alongside a classic Italian feast,” Mr Micallef said.

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“We are never standing still at Zonzo, and we try to create a new product each year. But this one’s something close to the heart. We make the product during winter time (which is generally our quietest period), and then it’s ready for all of the sun-drenched aperitivo hours of spring and summer.”

A total of 32,000 local lemons were transformed into liquid gold for the legacy recipe, with the lemons sourced for this debut Zoncello batch all unwaxed and homegrown locally in the Yarra Valley.

“It’s only the best! We purely require the lemon rind, so we donated the actual lemon to a local juice company in the Valley, meaning there was zero waste in the manufacturing process. Basically, we peeled the 32,000 lemons, combined them with Australian-made sugarcane, and fermented grapes to produce the spirit part of the liqueur (aka, a by-product of our wine product). Even the water used is filtered rain water!” Mr Micallef said.

“Great things take time, and that’s why limoncello is so special. It is a labour of love and requires patience to produce really well, but it’s definitely always worth the wait when you get to the taste-testing stage.”

According to Micallef, limoncello spritz is widely served at bars and restaurants, but it’s a difficult product to produce as a pre-made, ready-to-drink product and this is “due to the complexity of making a premix”.

“We have made similar products before, and the fact that no one has made a premade limoncello spritz yet makes this extra special. The idea of having a spritz was for the convenience of people enjoying this at any event, and not worrying about transporting multiple ingredients (keeping the limoncello frozen etc),” he said.

“We envisage that one day it will be as big as Aperol. We want consumers to request a Zoncello at bars and restaurants — they won’t just ask for a limoncello spritz, but instead, a Zoncello spritz.”

Zonzo Winery is in the process of planning a bar that will compliment these new products and create a home for them on Zonzo Estate for people to visit.