Drive through Lana in spring and you quickly understand why this region is called the “apple garden of Europe”. Miles of trees in full bloom, the Adige Valley gathering the sunshine, with the Texel Group mountains behind it.

It makes a beautiful postcard. But anyone who grew up here knows the apple has an image problem. It is reliable, well-behaved and healthy – and that is exactly why the younger generation often finds it too boring.

The question that started it all.

Josef Holzner grew up in Lana, surrounded by apple orchards. Instead of simply taking over the farm as it was, he asked himself a question that nobody in South Tyrol had really asked before:

Not in the sense of “yet another variety”. But: how can this fruit become something people enjoy holding, share on Instagram and pour into a glass alongside Spritz and Hugo – and steal the show?

A rare red fruit and the beginning of an idea.

On Josef’s farm grew a variety hardly anyone cultivates any more: Baya Marisa. An apple as red inside as a pomegranate. Demanding to grow, sensitive to the weather, and tasting of rhubarb, blackcurrant and a hint of pineapple.

Too good for an ordinary juice. Too special for the fruit bowl.

That was the key. If the apple was going to become cool, it would not be in its familiar form. It would be something nobody had ever imagined it could be: a real aperitivo.

Florian Lair joined as co-founder. Two South Tyroleans became a team. An idea became a product.

Four years of tinkering. Three awards. One promise.

What started as an idea is now Sparkling Rocco. An alcohol-free aperitivo made from 100% directly pressed Baya Marisa juice. No flavourings, no added sugar, no compromises. And above all: guaranteed alcohol-free. Not 0.4 or 0.5 like many competitors, but truly zero.

At the beginning, Josef and Florian never imagined this commitment would be celebrated internationally:

Different juries, one unanimous verdict: this new aperitivo from South Tyrol deserves a stage and awards that do justice to the effort behind it.

What Rocco means to lovers of South Tyrol.

Sparkling Rocco is not a juice. Not a cider. Certainly not a spritzer. It is what happens when a young apple farmer stops settling for what already exists. And creates something new from a rare fruit and a simple question.

Sparkling Rocco belongs in a wine glass. Exactly where you would usually find Prosecco, Aperol Spritz or Hugo. Only without alcohol.

If you love South Tyrol, you will taste it in the first sip.
If you do not know South Tyrol, the first sip will give you a sense of what you have been missing.