Olive cultivation on “Acquarello”
Olive oil – the green gold of Tuscany
“O you longed-for green seclusion, removed from the noise of the human world!”
This is how the Tuscan poet Giosuè Carducci describes the Maremma in his work “Ruit Hora”. A region so enchanting and wild that it has captivated travellers with its originality for centuries. Every season it dresses in new colours, but the landscape is always dominated by one thing in particular: the rich grey green of the olive tree, which is so deeply rooted in this archaic landscape and its inhabitants. Every family has an olive grove, which with its fruit forms the basis of Tuscan cuisine and with its necessary agricultural work creates a framework for the year.
“Extra Vergine” olive oil of the highest quality
At the ‘Podere Acquarello’, the green gold of Tuscany also plays a central role in our annual schedule. In October, when the first wisps of fog appear over the slopes of Massa Marittima, the hustle and bustle in our groves begins: it is time to harvest! The whole family and friends head out into the fields with ladders and nets. The fruit is still harvested by hand, although we at least allow ourselves a little help with the electric telescopic rod, the Abbacchiatore, which is gentle on the olives. It is the mixture of partly unripe green and already ripe, dark purple fruits that gives our olive oil the unmistakable, grassy, peppery taste that is synonymous with the special oils of Tuscany. Within a few hours, our olives are then transported to the regional oil mill to be cold-pressed in a particularly gentle process at temperatures below 30 degrees. A process that preserves all of the valuable aromatic substances and polyphenols in the olive oil.
In the grove itself, we also attach importance to sustainable and gentle measures, such as fertilizing with exclusively natural substances such as pelleted manure and foliar fertilization with algae preparations, as well as a return to permaculture methods such as observation of the surrounding vegetation and long-term growth of wild herbs and flowers to increase biodiversity.
We are convinced that a holistically healthy olive grove produces good, original olive oil of the highest quality.
