New 2021 olive oil, little but organic and good
The heat and drought have drastically reduced the 2021 olives but the extra virgin olive oil is full of flavor. The harvest at the Fattoria del Colle has already begun
Tuscany-new-2021-olive-oil-Fattoria-del-Colle
by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
The harvest has just begun but the scarcity of olives is very evident: some trees are entirely fruitless and others have beautiful loaded branches and all the rest of the canopy empty. Apparently it is the moraiolo variety olive trees that have suffered the most. Fortunately, the yield in oil is good and the taste of the golden liquid is intense so just a few drops are enough to fill the vegetables and cooked dishes with flavor.
THE ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL OF THE FATTORIA DEL COLLE
The Fattoria del Colle has two small olive groves for a total of 6 hectares, planted after the frost of 1985 that killed almost all the ancient trees. Only a few olive trees resisted and are along the dirt roads.
In the olive groves there are the varieties Moraiolo and Correggiolo (frantoio) with which we produce a Tuscan DOP blend and two monocultivars. All are organic.
Tuscany-new-2021-olive-oil-Fattoria-del-Colle
The area of Trequanda, where the farm is located, has been renowned for centuries for the excellent quality of its extra virgin olive oil. Thanks to its altitude (400 meters above sea level), its ventilation and the calcareous soil, the quality of the oil is spontaneously excellent. The oleic fly is also very rare and therefore there is no need of chemistry. Producing organically is really easy.
Harvesting is done by hand with the help of rakes and nets. Every day the olives arrive in the Sant’Angelo Olive Mill in Castelmuzio which is only a few kilometers from the Fattoria del Colle. The pressing takes place at low temperatures (less than 27 ° C) with a Pieralisi system. The master miller Paolo Bindi has experience and a keen eye to preserve the fragrance of the fruit and its healthy virtues.
The annual production is small and ranges between 10-15Hl. The extra virgin olive oil is stored in the dark and at a controlled temperature in steel vats and then bottled without filtering. It is possible to buy it at Fattoria del Colle or online.
EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL FOR CHILDREN
In addition to the traditional glass bottles since last year the Fattoria del Colle also offers children’s oil packaged in metal jars covered with a label full of GANGHERETTI small monsters designed by the painter Alessandro Grazi.
The cans are small so that children can pick them up on their own (0.25 and 0.50 L) and there is a space where each child can write their name. The Gangheretti are the 92 goblins that legendarily populate the Fattoria del Colle. They are blue, smell of garlic and constantly play pranks.
Extra virgin olive oil is the healthiest food that nature gives us. This is why it is important that children consume it regularly and for this reason it is important to store it in the dark, where there are no smells and in the cool but not in the cold because it freezes long before water. Poor preservation destroys most of the health pros of extra virgin olive oil: oleic acid for example, a monounsaturated fat capable of regulating cholesterol levels. Extra virgin olive oil reduces the likelihood of heart attack, diabetes, cancer and aging.
