La Dolce Vita

The good life is what those choosing to own a lifestyle block hanker after – a life where the land expands horizons beyond fenced-in suburbia. For one Italian couple, a parcel of land in Northland allows them to live their life with zest.

On a lifestyle property at Skudders Beach near Kerikeri, three year old Isabella has a very important role in the family business.

The day Country magazine called, the toddler was putting labels on bottles of Sovrano limoncello liqueur that will find their way into the homes of New Zealanders, Canadians, North Americans and Chinese thanks to the enterprising marketing initiatives of her Italian parents.

Andrea Loggia and Marzia Turcato (pictured, right) originally hail from northern Italy with their families of Sicilian and Mantovan origin, respectively.

The couple first visited New Zealand in 2004 spending a year based mainly in Northland. They later immigrated here from Milan in 2007 choosing to buy a lifestyle block and settle in Kerikeri where the weather is friendly, the lemons are the finest in the country and where they discovered the best pure alcohol produced in New Zealand.

These factors were vital to the pair’s vision – to create the greatest and purest limoncello in the southern hemisphere.

And with family such an important part of their Italian heritage, their grown sons Paolo and Stefano joined them to help establish the family business. New Zealand-born Isabella is now also an important part of the operation.

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