Principato di Lucedio
When Napoleon Bonaparte was ceded the Lucedio Estate in 1807, it's hard to imagine he intended to spend the time and effort that its future owner, Count Paolo Cavalli d'Olivola, would spend to grow Italy's finest rice. In 1937, the Count bought the estate, located in the heart of the Piedmont region, increasing the property to over 400 hectares of rice fields, creating Italy’s largest rice estate.
Today, his daughter, Countess Rosetta Clara Cavalli d’Olivola, oversees the restoration of the estate and the farming of the rice fields with zealousness and utmost care, carrying on a rice-growing tradition begun by Cistercian monks in the fifteenth century.
Harvested in the late summer and early fall, the rices of Principato de Lucedio are stored, with the husk and bran intact, until the last possible minute before milling and packing. The attention to detail on the Lucedio Estate has allowed them to maintain the quality which has made the estate so famous. The superfino rices are superior for classic risotto preparations.
