Olive Harvest.
Many of our "oliveti" (olive groves) in Tuscany are made up of trees that are anywhere from 500 to 1000 years old and are planted on terraced hillsides. We use the natural mix of the varieties planted in each oliveto to give the essence of the land it is planted on.
We harvest early, around mid-October, when the olives have reached "verizon", just as the color of the olives starts to change and they are at the peak of flavor and polyphenols. The varieties of olives come in many different colors and the end result is usually a mix of brilliant hues of green to purple. Our olives are all picked by hand and allowed to fall gently down onto nets that are placed under each tree. It is similar to picking cherries although olives tend to be a little harder to get off the tree. Those picking work the trees together, some up in ladders while others work on the lower branches, everyone adding to the growing pile of olives below on the net. The olives gather below on the nets, often together with leaves and branches that later are sorted out. Everyone carefully steps around the growing piles of olives as they pick trying not to crush any olives on the ground. Olives are very carefully handled from start to finish in order to preserve the olives intact as much as possible because olives that are punctured, crushed or even left for too long before crushing produce a higher acidity oil, which isn't a good thing. Depending on the varietal, the olive trees come in all different shapes and sizes. Some big, others full, a few sparse, each tree has its own character. After each tree is fully picked they take up the nets in teams to gently gather together all of the olives, pick out any leaves or branches and then carefully pour them into crates that we use to transport the olives to the "frantoio" (olive mill).
We harvest early, around mid-October, when the olives have reached "verizon", just as the color of the olives starts to change and they are at the peak of flavor and polyphenols. The varieties of olives come in many different colors and the end result is usually a mix of brilliant hues of green to purple. Our olives are all picked by hand and allowed to fall gently down onto nets that are placed under each tree. It is similar to picking cherries although olives tend to be a little harder to get off the tree. Those picking work the trees together, some up in ladders while others work on the lower branches, everyone adding to the growing pile of olives below on the net. The olives gather below on the nets, often together with leaves and branches that later are sorted out. Everyone carefully steps around the growing piles of olives as they pick trying not to crush any olives on the ground. Olives are very carefully handled from start to finish in order to preserve the olives intact as much as possible because olives that are punctured, crushed or even left for too long before crushing produce a higher acidity oil, which isn't a good thing. Depending on the varietal, the olive trees come in all different shapes and sizes. Some big, others full, a few sparse, each tree has its own character. After each tree is fully picked they take up the nets in teams to gently gather together all of the olives, pick out any leaves or branches and then carefully pour them into crates that we use to transport the olives to the "frantoio" (olive mill).
Making Olives Into Oil.
We process our olives within 24 hours of harvesting, ensuring that they are healthy, undamaged and still at their peak of freshness.
When they arrive to the mill the olives are put into large containers where they rest until it is our turn in the processing line. The first step is to pour the container into a chute that feeds the olives up a conveyer belt into a water wash to get rid of any dirt as well as most of the branches and leaves. From the wash they go into a machine that macerates them into a paste and then sends them into an oxygen tight holding tank that serves as a giant mixer continuously keeping the paste in movement. The paste stays mixing for about 50 minutes and is then sent to a centrifuge that spins at 3000 rpm to separate the water and solids from the oil. The oil is then sent to a smaller vertical centrifuge spinning at 6000 rpm that separates a little more water from the oil and then sends the oil to collect in a large stainless steel round holding container and thus the "Nuovo" (new oil) Extra Virgin Olive Oil is born. For our "Nuovo", we then bottle it within days so you can experience the new extra virgin olive oil just like the Italians do.
When they arrive to the mill the olives are put into large containers where they rest until it is our turn in the processing line. The first step is to pour the container into a chute that feeds the olives up a conveyer belt into a water wash to get rid of any dirt as well as most of the branches and leaves. From the wash they go into a machine that macerates them into a paste and then sends them into an oxygen tight holding tank that serves as a giant mixer continuously keeping the paste in movement. The paste stays mixing for about 50 minutes and is then sent to a centrifuge that spins at 3000 rpm to separate the water and solids from the oil. The oil is then sent to a smaller vertical centrifuge spinning at 6000 rpm that separates a little more water from the oil and then sends the oil to collect in a large stainless steel round holding container and thus the "Nuovo" (new oil) Extra Virgin Olive Oil is born. For our "Nuovo", we then bottle it within days so you can experience the new extra virgin olive oil just like the Italians do.