The world's most
celebrated lemon.
The Citron de Menton IGP — France's only lemon to hold Protected Geographical Indication status. Rounder, more fragrant, less acidic. The heart of every bottle of Romancello.
Not all lemons are
created equal.
The Citron de Menton is rounder and plumper than any other variety — closer in shape to an orange than a typical lemon. Its skin is thick, intensely fragrant, and rich in essential oils.
Unlike most commercial lemons, Menton lemons are picked by hand and never coated in wax or treated with post-harvest chemicals. What you taste is pure fruit.
The slightly cooler winters of the French Riviera allow sugars and aromatic compounds to develop more slowly, producing a lemon with less acidity, more sweetness, and extraordinary depth of flavour. It is why the world's finest pastry chefs and perfumers have long sought them out.
A microclimate unlike
anywhere else.
Menton sits at the eastern tip of the French Riviera, nestled between the Alps and the Mediterranean — a natural amphitheatre that traps warmth and shields the groves from cold northern winds.
The groves grow on steep terraced hillsides called restanques, hand-built over centuries from local sandstone. No lemon grove may be further than 7 kilometres from the sea, or above 390 metres altitude — conditions tightly regulated by the IGP specification.
The soil — a pale, sandy Menton sandstone — drains perfectly and reflects the Mediterranean light back up through the canopy. Combined with the proximity to the sea, it creates a flavour profile no other growing region can replicate.
The Designation
What does IGP mean?
IGP — Indication Géographique Protégée, or Protected Geographical Indication — is the European Union's highest designation for regional food products. It guarantees that a product comes from a specific place and owes its qualities to that origin.
The Citron de Menton was granted IGP status in 2015, making it the only French lemon to hold this protection. It joins a prestigious list that includes Champagne, Roquefort, and Parmigiano Reggiano.
For a lemon to carry the Citron de Menton IGP designation, it must be grown in the designated communes of Menton, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Gorbio, Castellar, and Sainte-Agnès — and meet strict standards on growing, harvesting, and handling.
Visit the official IGP Menton Lemon website →Hand-picked only
Every IGP Menton lemon is harvested by hand, tree by tree, to ensure only perfectly ripe fruit is selected.
No wax or treatment
Unlike commercial lemons, Citron de Menton IGP receives no post-harvest chemical treatment or wax coating.
Strictly local
Grown within 7km of the Mediterranean Sea, in five designated communes. No exceptions.
La Fête du Citron.
Every February, Menton transforms into a celebration of citrus unlike anything else in the world. The Fête du Citron — now in its ninth decade — draws over 240,000 visitors to see monumental sculptures and parade floats built entirely from lemons and oranges.
The festival began in 1876 when a local hotelier organised a private exhibition of citrus and flowers to entertain winter visitors. The name "Fête du Citron" was born in 1934, and by 1935 the celebrations had moved to the Biovès Gardens, where they have taken place every year since.
Each edition uses around 140 tonnes of citrus fruit, sculpted into towering structures up to 10 metres high. In 2019, the festival was recognised by France's Ministry of Culture and added to the national inventory of intangible cultural heritage.
Visit the official festival website →
The lemon that inspired
a drink.
Romancello was born from a love of this extraordinary fruit. When we began developing our apéritif, we knew there was only one lemon that could do justice to what we wanted to create — the Citron de Menton IGP.
We work directly with IGP-certified growers in the terraced groves above Menton, selecting only the finest fruit at peak ripeness. The result is an apéritif with a flavour that simply cannot be replicated with any other lemon — fragrant, complex, and unmistakably of the Riviera.
Recipes, stories and the world of Romancello
From the lemon groves of Menton to Regent's Park — stories from the Riviera Edit.
Taste the difference.
Every bottle of Romancello starts with the finest IGP Menton lemons. Discover it for yourself.
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