The sour cherry (visciolo in Italian) is a tree originally coming from the Eastern Europe and the Middle East, particularly from Armenia and Caucasus.

Today, Eastern Europe still represents one of the main production areas providing the original naturalness.

The Roman military tribune Lucio Licino Lucullo is said to have imported the tree in Italy. He would pick a plant at Cesaronte, a city in Asia Minor, on his way home after the third Mithridatic War in 65 b.C. Then he would replant it in the gardens of his villa in Rome. The spread of the tree in our countryside was a lucky coincidence.

In the past century, the Amarene di Cantiano were much appreciated also by the Italian royal family. Indeed there is a document dating back 1928 and testifying an order made by King Vittorio Emanuele II from a well known local factory.

Additionally there is further documentation attesting awards and honors conferred to the Amarene di Cantiano before 1925, among which the Gold Medal at the International Fair in Paris, and the Cross of Merit at the International Fair in Milan.

The sour black cherry or amarena is a type of wild cherry (prunus cerasus). It is dark red and tastes slightly sour; it naturally bears fruit and grows in steep and hilly terrains.

The Visciola di Cantiano is registered on the official list of the traditional agricultural products of Marche Region, published in the Italian Gazette.

The Visciole or Amarene di Cantiano are mainly sold in syrup.

This method of preservation is the result of a traditional crafts of food processing that makes Amarene di Cantiano delicious au naturel, but also for ice-cream or yoghurt topping, and home-made cakes and desserts. Moreover it is possible to make also derived products like jam, brandy or wine from sour cherries.

The Visciole or Amarene di Cantiano find an ideal habitat in the province of Pesaro and Urbino and in particular in the Cantiano area, on the calcareous and clayey slopes of Mount Cantria, where they spontaneously grow. Four hectares of this land have been cultivated by morelloAustera company, two of them for 9 years, and two since 2015.