We are really crazy about olives.
We came to Italy in 2005 to live abroad for a year never intending to stay. We quickly fell in love with with our area of southern Tuscany and became immersed in the local culture and customs. In October 2005 we helped friends harvest their olives and for the first time had the opportunity to experience first hand the incredible new olive oil and how much work goes into making it. Harvesting by hand, gently plucking olives one by one into crates, then visiting the mill to have it turned into the magical green liquid called "Nuovo".
After a lot of research over the next couple of years Keith became obsessed with the new olive oil that is a part of every Italian's diet but hard to find so fresh just after pressing in the U.S. At first we brought back with us to the U.S. enough for family, soon we had friends requesting it and after bringing back over 80 liters in our luggage we knew there was a market for freshly pressed high quality artisan olive oil.
In 2010 we officially started L'arte dell'Olivo. We take pride in harvesting early at verizon, when the olives are just turning color and are at the peak of polyphenols. We mill our olives every day during harvest and airship our "Nuovo" EVOO immediately so it IS the freshest 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil available. And it is good, really good and we're proud to have won quite a few awards around the world for our EVOO!
We have made many friends along the way and the local community has been as welcoming as they are helpful. Through good friends we found the farmer who grows our multiple award winning "La Contessa" (formerly known as "Tuscany") Extra Virgin Olive Oil and are proud to support his production from trees that date back to 800 A.D. In 2013 we created an Azienda Agricola and Keith finally achieved his dream of farming olive oil with five local Cortona "oliveti" (olive groves) under his care, making our estate olive oil, "Cortona ", a reality and in 2016 our production was certified "biologico" (organic).
The balsamics were the perfect compliment to our exceptional olive oil and we were able to find an artisan family in Modena who have been crafting balsamics for over 100 years and were willing to work with us so that we could create our own very special blends/flavors. Our flavored White Balsamics are unique to the market and became an overnight success. Our White Balsamic aged for 4 years in oak barrels is an amazingly perfect balance of sweet and sour and is the base of most of our flavored balsamics.
We couldn't be where we are today without the undying support from our family and friends who have been there for us every step of the way, from harvesting to labelling or just spreading the word about our great products.
We live full time in Cortona, Tuscany, Italy with our two faithful doggy companions Stella & Murphy who happily volunteer to taste any olive that falls. We are passionate about wine, food, local festas, travel, our friends and family and most especially our amazing artisan products.
In good health,
Keith & Tania von Barkenhagen, Owners
After a lot of research over the next couple of years Keith became obsessed with the new olive oil that is a part of every Italian's diet but hard to find so fresh just after pressing in the U.S. At first we brought back with us to the U.S. enough for family, soon we had friends requesting it and after bringing back over 80 liters in our luggage we knew there was a market for freshly pressed high quality artisan olive oil.
In 2010 we officially started L'arte dell'Olivo. We take pride in harvesting early at verizon, when the olives are just turning color and are at the peak of polyphenols. We mill our olives every day during harvest and airship our "Nuovo" EVOO immediately so it IS the freshest 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil available. And it is good, really good and we're proud to have won quite a few awards around the world for our EVOO!
We have made many friends along the way and the local community has been as welcoming as they are helpful. Through good friends we found the farmer who grows our multiple award winning "La Contessa" (formerly known as "Tuscany") Extra Virgin Olive Oil and are proud to support his production from trees that date back to 800 A.D. In 2013 we created an Azienda Agricola and Keith finally achieved his dream of farming olive oil with five local Cortona "oliveti" (olive groves) under his care, making our estate olive oil, "Cortona ", a reality and in 2016 our production was certified "biologico" (organic).
The balsamics were the perfect compliment to our exceptional olive oil and we were able to find an artisan family in Modena who have been crafting balsamics for over 100 years and were willing to work with us so that we could create our own very special blends/flavors. Our flavored White Balsamics are unique to the market and became an overnight success. Our White Balsamic aged for 4 years in oak barrels is an amazingly perfect balance of sweet and sour and is the base of most of our flavored balsamics.
We couldn't be where we are today without the undying support from our family and friends who have been there for us every step of the way, from harvesting to labelling or just spreading the word about our great products.
We live full time in Cortona, Tuscany, Italy with our two faithful doggy companions Stella & Murphy who happily volunteer to taste any olive that falls. We are passionate about wine, food, local festas, travel, our friends and family and most especially our amazing artisan products.
In good health,
Keith & Tania von Barkenhagen, Owners
Keith & Tania von Barkenhagen
email: keith@larte.us, tania@larte.us
Tel. U.S.: +1 949.480.9348
Tel. Italy: +39 366.264.5163
Find us on Facebook!
email: keith@larte.us, tania@larte.us
Tel. U.S.: +1 949.480.9348
Tel. Italy: +39 366.264.5163
Find us on Facebook!