But it is not only the habitat, in which this rice is grown, that makes it unique. A lot of attention is dedicated to all processing phases in order to guarantee an outstanding product.

The production process – from threshing to packaging – of the different rice varieties of Riserva San Massimo is still completely artisanal. This way the rice keeps all of its flavours, fragrances and organoleptic qualities intact, that it gained during its ripening in this completely natural habitat.

The work of Cristiano Guizzardi and the knowledge of each single plant of Dino Massignani are crucial to the quality of the rice from Riserva San Massimo. Massignani observes the rice cultivation, step by step and season after season with the objective to keep the best artisanal practices alive while introducing innovative processing methods at the same time.

When the right degree of maturation is reached, the paddy (before it is husked) is picked and immediately low temperature dried on the farm. Even though it is still allowed to dry rice with gasoline and above a direct flame – a procedure that notoriously leaves residues and modifies the taste – Riserva San Massimo uses methane gas, drying the rice through a heat exchanger that avoids the emanations touching the rice grains directly. This drying method is not only the healthier solution, it also works with low temperatures and therefore maintains each grain intact and compact.

From cultivation to packaging, all of the processes that the rice passes inside the farm are accurately controlled and continuously perfected.

At the end of the drying process the rice is stored in ventilated silos, just like it was done in the past, without adding any kind of preservative. Then the rice is husked in small quantities, based on the clients requests. This way the maximum freshness of the final product can be guaranteed.

To obtain the classic white rice that we all know, it actually needs to be “husked”. That means the heart of the grain is separated from the cortex (husk) that encloses it. It is a fundamental and very delicate process that the agricultural enterprise San Massimo uses  today just like it did back in time, using conical stones that rid the grain from the pericarp in a completely natural and mechanical way.

With this slow stone-processing technique the temperature can be kept low, avoiding to “precook” the rice and preventing cracks in the grains. In this way all the organoleptic qualities of each rice grain are conserved. For the long-term protection of the product, the rice it is packaged under modified atmosphere (MAP) right after the husking. This procedure guarantees an extremely long preservability that maintains all the characteristics of freshly picked rice.