Antonio Dongiovanni has been working in the villa garden for over 20 years. He's been maintaining the fruit trees, shrubs and the olive grove on your behalf since the property was purchased. Each year he cuts back half the olive trees, and although this means that only half the trees produce fruit each year, this system also means that the fruiting trees will produce better pressing olives at each harvest. That time is now!
This year, due to the weather, a bumper crop is expected, so we can expect not just quantity but quality. We're looking at approximately 750 litres of sun-kissed Puglian oil.
Puglia is known as one of Italy's finest producers of olive oil: the blazing sun, rich soil, good water supply and proximity to the sea are all considered reasons. The olives at the villa are well cared for and, though originally irrigated, are now mature enough to have roots reaching down to the underground water supplies.
As an olive grove owner, you might like to know how to taste olive oil - here are some tasting notes:
Olive oil is judged like wine, by its sensory, properties: colour, bouquet, and taste. These qualities depend on the ripeness of the olives when harvested, how they were kept after picking and how the oil was extracted. Unlike wine however, olive oil does not improve with age, it will never be better than in its year of production.
- Examine the color (yellow, green tones?)
- Smell the aroma (grassy, tomato leaf, artichoke?)
- Sip the olive oil while sucking in air and exhaling from your nose. A high quality olive oil should not feel greasy in the mouth and should taste peppery.
