On November 13th, Villa Campestri Olive Oil Resorthas closed the 2011 season: we take a few months of rest to better prepare the next year. We take this opportunity to thank all those who chose our resort for their holidays in our 20th birthday and for all the events you have organized here with us! Thanks to L’Oreal for the presentation of the new hair line “Nature Series“, Thanks to Nancy Harmon Jenkins for the wonderful experience of AmOrolio! (more…)

As wine, extra-virgin olive oilhas different characteristics depending on the quality of olives (cultivars), the area where plants are grown and the process of production. L’Olio di Cosimo is a blend produced at Villa Campestri Olive Oil Resort by early 2000. Obtained from cultivars Frantoio, Leccino, Pendolino, Moraiolo, Piangente and Correggiolo, all grown in our olive grove and processed in our mill, the oil has all the quality requirements for the certification by TREE, an association that brings together best producers of extra-virgin olive oil in the world. (more…)

If the olive harvest must be done carefully to avoid damage of the fruit, the more delicate process to obtain an extra-virgin olive oil quality is definitely working in the mill. Villa Campestri Olive Oil Resort has its own a mill that manages the entire process of production of our Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil ensuring the best quality product. (more…)

The olive harvest in Tuscany begins in late October and early November, just when the olives have reached their perfect stage of ripeness—actually a little under-ripe as they turn from green to black. It’s called invaiatura in Italian, veraisonin English.

At Villa Campestri, we harvest all our olives by hand. It takes longer than using machines but we’re convinced from years of experience that it’s less stressful for the trees and, equally important, there’s less risk of damage to the olives. Meaning, of course, a higher quality of extra-virgin oil.

For harvesting, we use a comb, a plastic instrument that looks much like a giant hair comb. It slides along the branches and pulls the olives off without damaging the leaves or the tree. The olives drop gently to a net spread beneath the tree and when the net is full, the olives are brought immediately to the mill or frantoio right here on the estate.

Like all conscientious growers, we press our olives within 24 hours (and often much less) of harvest. That’s the only way to get an oil that tastes and smells of the full, fresh, complex fragrance of the olives themselves.

The olive harvest lasts about a month. We have to finish before the arrival of cold weather at the end of November; otherwise, there is a risk of damage to the olives.

To see a video of the olive harvest at Villa Campestri Olive Oil Resort, click on our, click on our channel youtube.