More than 2200 years ago Hannibal and his war-elephants crossed the Alps with the goal of conquering Italy. In the hills by Lake Trasimeno in Umbria, Hannibal fought the Romans knowing he was heavily outnumbered. Using specific war tactics for the first time in the history of warfare, Hannibal ambushed the Romans and managed to get a decisive victory. The battle at Lake Trasimeno thus became a memorable part of Italien and European history. Today, there is still a fight at Lake Trasemino but this time it is a fight for quality. For more than 60 years, Sabina and her mother have been farming the hills at Lake Trasemino. Under the name Montemelino, the family has produced wine, olive oil and marmalade with one single ambition; they want to make quality. In the Montemelino family, the philosophy is simple; you have to put quality over quantity. Therefore, Montemelino only have a limited number of products with a limited production. The olives are handpicked from trees more than 300 years old and the south-turned wine hills are worked with a spade. Montemelino believes that nature creates the best quality, which is why they only use natural minerals in their farming process. Just like Hannibal, the Montemelino family may seem to be outnumbered, but they have definitely won the fight for quality. 
A story about wine and elephants…
Montemelino, Italy.
Generations of quality chocolate… for royalties
Kolibri Chokolade, Denmark
The best Chocolatier in Denmark resides in Holte. Through generations, Kolibri Chokolade has excited the Danes with handcrafted chocolate. Since opening in 1982, Kolibri has kept their production facilities in the backroom of their elegant store. Peter and his wife, Martine, who constitute the second generation of the family passion, create all chocolate themselves. When the doorbell rings, either Peter or Martine jumps from the backroom to the front of the store with their chocolate gloves on to talk to the customers, as they have known them forever. And they might have. After you have tasted Kolibri’s handcrafted chocolates, the only thing that comes to mind is when you can visit the little store in Holte again.
One of the secrets behind Kolibri is that Peter and his wife have been faithful towards generations of work methods but continued to explore flavours and tastes. In fact, the tastes are so delicious that Kolibri has received the honorary diploma from the Danish Gastronomic Academy and delivered chocolate to the Royal wedding between Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary. Most Chocolatiers would have posters with their achievements all over their store. But not Kolibri. They are too busy creating chocolate.
