OUR ORCHARD

The olive tree is a symbol of life itself. Proud and strong, full of ancient memories, they were too often wounded and abandoned, but again and again found loving hands to receive the dignity they deserve.

Today these hands are ours and it is an honor for us to take loving care of these old trees, to watch them grow and prosper and hand them down to our children as their heritage.

Our oil tells the story of these trees and out of respect we nourish and support our plants and the land exclusively with natural products. In Tuscany there are around 14 Million olive trees on 93000 hectares and 70000 olive oil producers, in Lucca province 7000 and 75 % of them have no more then 2 hectares of land. Our from the “Accadmie statali di Belle Arti” protected olive grove spans four hectares and is terraced. It is made up of 1,111 olive trees, some of which are 400 years old.

Most trees are of the Frantoio variety, but Leccino and Maurino trees are also found in it. Most of the trees still have the original trunks. This is quite rare in Tuscany. In 1985 there was a massive frost in the whole region with temperatures reaching -20 degrees Celsius. 90 % of the olive corps were damaged or destroyed. 17 Million trees had to cut down to the ground. A part didn’t survive because the roots were frostbitten.

The same happened in 1709, it was the called “The terrible winter of 1709 in Europe”. In the spring of 2005 we planted 240 three year-old olive trees, that reach full production capacity at the age of 15 years. 

In Tuscan hillsides the average olive yield seldom exceeds 6/7 kilograms per tree. Assuming an average oil yield of 15%, we can get approximately one liter of oil per tree - 2 liters per tree being the maximum yield of exceptionally good years.

Our yields:

1.) First harvest after three years of so-called recovery time
2.) No harvest due to adverse weather conditions.