Olive Oil tasting and Workshop

Friday, October 14, 2011, by Alina

At Fontanaro Organic and Ecological Farm house in the border between Umbria and Tuscany you can enjoy free Olive oil tasting and Olive Oil Educational Workshop. Ask and appointment to the Olive Oil Sommelier Lucia: lucia@fontanaro.it tel. + 39 338 733 8869

To start with curiosity, here you are the Fontanaro philosophy in making olive oil, according with the Latin Cato…..This is our philosophy in the art and science of making the best extra virgin olive oil. As

agreed with the Latin Cato, also this year we will harvest before the time of the others in October. If you like to learn more, come and visit us, during the harvest we will do free workshop and lessons!

MARCO PORCIO CATONE, from De agri cultura.

(234-149 B.C.);

When olives are ripe, they should be gathered as early as possible, and stand as little as possible on the ground or in the loft. On the ground and in the loft they deteriorate. The gatherers want there to be as many windfalls as possible, so that they gather more.

The press workers want them to be in the loft as long as possible, to soften, which makes their work easier. Do not accept that oil yield increases with storage.

The more quickly you make it, the better the work willgo, and the higher will be the quantity and quality of oil from the same amount harvested. Olives that stay on the ground or in the loft will make less and poorer oil If possible, draw off the oil twice a day, because oil will be poorest if it remains too long with the amurca and the residue.

Fontanaro  organic extra virgin olive oil is a blend of 5 different varieties of olives (Leccino, Frantoio, Dolce Agogia, Moraiolo and Pendolino), according to the rules of the DOP zone Colli del Trasimeno in Paciano  Umbria.

To achieve our goal of producing  the ultimate quality olive oil we control the entire process from the manual harvesting according to old tradition  to the processing with our state of the art mill. The advantage of having our own mill on the farm allows us to immediately press the olives maintaining the integrity of the final product  with the highest nutritional benefits and flavours.

Being environmentally conscious, we are self sufficient producing with solar cells enough electricity to run the mill and the farm.

Our olive oil is included in the AIS Oil guide, with the maximum rank of 5 drops as well as in the Slow Food Guide to Extra virgin olive oil. Lucia is  an Oil Sommellier .Our oil is the result of a production of top quality olive groves not comparable to any kind of industrial production. Plants from which we extract  Fontanaro olive oil are grown on sunny slopes, far from factories and traffic congested roads, in an unpolluted natural environment.

At our farm we are totally committed to protect and respect the environment;  we produce electricity with solar cells, we recoup the rain water for irrigation, and mainly use wood for heating. We recycle all the garbage and we don’t use any chemicals.

We return the residues of the oil processing as natural fertilizer to the soil.

See  our video: http://fontanaro.it/organic-product.htm

Our oil has a very fruity taste with bitter and spicy notes and is very rich of unique flavors. In our own mill, the cold press process is applied within 6 hours of the olive picking to guarantee the very best quality oil. During the different phases of olive oil production, the temperature is kept at a constant level below 25°C, ensuring a harmonic composition of the different flavors that make our oil so special.

For more info and details: alina@fontanaro.it + 39 338 7408884

http://www.fontanaro.it/oldsite/organic-product.htm

In Italiano: Ecco, per voi, il manifesto che abbiamo sposato per rispettare la scienza e l’arte del produrre il miglior olio extra vergine di oliva. Noi come gli antichi romani seguiamo alla lettera questo trattato. Raccogliamo ad ottobre, quando vira il colore dell’oliva, spremiamo immediatamente, sempre entro le 4 ore.

MARCO PORCIO CATONE

L’oliva, quando sarà matura, è bene che sia raccolta quanto prima, ed è bene che rimanga per terra o sul tavolato quanto meno. Per terra e sul tavolato ammuffisce. I raccoglitori vorrebbero sempre che sia il più possibile l’oliva che cade, cosicché se ne raccolga di più senza fatica; i frantoiani vorrebbero sempre che l’oliva rimanga a lungo sul tavolato, perché diventi fracida, cosicché più facilmente possano fare la spremitura. Vedi di non credere che sul tavolato l’olio possa crescere!

Quanto più rapidamente lo farai spremere, tanto meglio sarà, e una raccolta di tanti moggi renderà di più e meglio. L’oliva che sarà rimasta troppo per terra o sul tavolato, renderà meno e peggio. L’olio, se possibile, lo si travasi due volte al giorno: infatti l’olio, quanto più a lungo starà tra la morchia e la feccia, tanto peggiore sarà.

Il testo è tratto dal volume De agri cultura, ed è a firma di Catone il Censore

(234-149 a. C.);

Per ulteriori informazioni: The Pinelli Family  – Vocabolo Montanaro, 64 – 06060 Paciano, Pg  Italy www.fontanaro.it  http://www.fontanaro.it/oldsite/organic-product.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcUw9tSM1Sc

alina@fontanaro.it