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PARMA VIOLET
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Our story begins in the beautiful Italian city of Parma, where our founder Neil Grosscup first fell in love with Italy and the convivial evening time ritual of the aperitivo. Located south of Milan on the ancient Via Emilia, Parma is the childhood home of Neil’s wife, Lilly Englert Azario, as well the Parma Violet, the key ingredient in Collina Viola.
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LA LUNIGIANA
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Travel west from Parma and you enter the Lunigiana, an untapped mountainous area of Italy and where Neil, Lilly and their extended family spend their summers to escape the heat of the city. The summer of 2020 was remarkable for many reasons. Not only were Neil and Lilly able to flee from the COVID pandemic and New York City, but joining them was the newest addition to the family, their daughter Viola. While quarantining at the family home, Neil began to experiment with local ingredients to develop a new drink to celebrate his daughter, and the region he fell in love with.
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COLLINA VIOLA
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Continue traveling west and you come to the seaside town of Massa, where Neil met Alessandro Gherardi, an Italian distiller passionate about elevating Italian drinks. Here, Neil and Alessandro worked to perfect Neil’s recipe with Alessandro’s knowledge of Italian liqueurs. Together they took local mountain herbs, bright fresh citrus from Italy’s south, smooth Madagascar vanilla and the sweet Parma Violet. After much trial and error, voila! Collina Viola was born.
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L'ORA VIOLA
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Collina Viola is best enjoyed during that magical time of day that is neither day nor night. Call it the sunset hour, call it the violet hour, or, if you speak Italian, call it L'ora Viola – and raise your glass with us to celebrate the magic of the evening to come.
Ciao Viola!
