AMALFI, Campania — On a terrace clinging to a cliff high above the town, in the Valle dei Mulini, Italy’s brightest lemons are still picked by hand, knee and back. We met Salvatore Aceto, whose family has worked these near-vertical slopes since 1825. Now he is preparing something new for the punishing harvest. Drones. After a first demonstration a couple of weeks ago, he says he is ready to deploy them within the year to carry loads up and down terraces too steep for any machinery. It could be a revolution, he says, not only for growers but for the coast’s many abandoned buildings.
Q. Seven generations on these terraces since 1825. How does one family keep going?
“It’s a huge, enormous job. Sometimes I don’t have the energy to explain how it was possible, and how it’s still possible. The problem is too much vertical climb and we still have to do everything manually. The problem is in the knees, in the back. We have a strong heart, but it’s very dangerous for our body.”
Q. What makes the Sfusato Amalfitano the yellow gold of the coast?
“Many people are understanding its enormous potential. We have a lot of white pith, but in particular a huge zest, the skin. We have a lot of essential oils, it’s very aromatic, with much more power than other lemons. Thanks to this agriculture, sustainable and organic, with many little secrets, you get more flavour, more fragrance, more in everything.”
Q. You are about to start using drones up here. What changes?
“We are studying it, but I think it’s real now. In the next months, next year, we are ready to use the drones. We did the first demonstration just a couple of weeks ago. It’s a revolution for our activity, because in a short time we can carry a lot of stuff. On some sides we use a cable car, but many parts of the Amalfi Coast don’t have that. It’s a revolution not only for me but for the other growers, and for the buildings too, because many are abandoned now and could be renovated thanks to this technology.”
Q. People come up here to eat as well as drink. What can a visitor taste?
“You find the lemons everywhere. The zest is fundamental, but we use all of the lemon. You find spaghetti with lemon, scialatielli, cakes, we make pasticciotto with lemon, and the lemon delizia. We have lemon cake, typical of this area, my wife’s cake. We use the lemons for the lemon spritz, for everything.”
Q. For a first proper Amalfi limoncello, what should someone expect?
“Don’t leave limoncello in the fridge. The best way to serve it is cold, like a white wine, in an iced glass. Otherwise you have a bomb of alcohol and you don’t taste the lemon. You just taste the ice, and it’s hard to recognise a good limoncello when it’s too iced.”
