Autumn in Tuscany means new Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Autumn in Tuscany also means new oil, freshly squeezed. The olive tree is one of the symbols of the Tuscan landscape, along with cypress trees and hills. Between the end of September and the beginning of October, the olive harvest takes place in Tuscany, an ancient ritual that has been repeated for thousands of years: in this period in fact the olive reaches the right maturation (veraison), changing its color from green to black. At Tenuta Torciano, the olive harvest takes place exclusively in manual mode, a process longer than the mechanical mode, but does not stress the olive tree and does not damaging the olives.
To collect the olives we use the comb, an instrument that recalls the hair comb precisely, and that allows you to slide along the branches, taking away the olives but without damaging the leaves and the tree.
The olives are harvested at the base of the tree with big green nets and from here they are taken immediately to the mill, every evening after the harvest: here begins the process of pressing to get the Extra Virgin Olive Oil in the day. The olive harvest lasts about a month and must be completed before the arrival of the great cold, around the end of November: otherwise the risk is that the olives can be damaged.
Tenuta Torciano’s extra virgin olive oil is an oil of great quality, especially thanks to the soil where our plants are grown. A soil with a very alkaline pH, together the cold extraction exclusively performed by mechanical means, favors the realization of a final product with a very low level of acidity and a unique flavor.
Extra-virgin also means “first pressing”: to produce one liter of our oil it takes about 5 kg of olives.
It also contains antioxidant compounds that protect it from rancidity and if stored correctly, away from light or heat sources, you can keep it unchanged for 12/18 months.
The new extra virgin olive oil, freshly pressed, is one of the most sought after products by experts and this year the Torciano Extra Virgin Olive Oil will stand out for its quality and flavor, also considering the excellence of the olives harvested.
Suitable for all culinary applications such as simple dressing, scalding and frying. Try it on a slice of cooked bread (here called Bruschetta) or pasta in white; you can have the same delicious result by putting it on your salads or on quality meat (Fiorentina is the best). This oil is perfect also in combination with white meats or fish, and the delicious carpaccio. This blond nectar is in fact the perfect condiment for every kind of food.
Our new 100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil will soon be available in the Shop on our website: www.torciano.com
Author
Luciana Cilemmi
Luciana Cilemmi, deals with Magazine, Style Director and Co-founder of Tenuta Torciano winery and Tenute Giachi wines and the innovative Viviarium Restaurant of Bottega Torciano- Tenuta Torciano & Winery is part of an international reality that is born in Italy by an initiative of Pierluigi Giachi and Luciana Cilemmi, who have worked for years in the Italian wine market , expanding throughout in the United States, managed and controlled by the american company ' Bellavini winery. Luciana Cilemmi was born in San Gimignano to a family of artists specialised in the restoration of medieval buildings. Having completed her technical studies, she now pursues the interests passed on to her by her family, like her passion for artistic objects, in particular works of art created in Tuscany between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But she reserves her keenest enthusiasm for the historic works completed in San Gimignano between 1100 and 1300. Alongside her love of medieval history, she is fascinated in wines produced from Tuscan vineyards, which, together with saffron and wool, were the most sought-after goods traded by the wealthy noble families of San Gimignano already in medieval times. Luciana Cilemmi left San Gimignano at the age of 21 and embarked on a pilgrimage in search of knowledge and to discover the new winemaking skills and products that were then developing both in Italy and in France. In the meantime she added to her knowledge of wine by attending specialised courses and becoming a master of wine. On returning to Siena, she discovered a wonderful area near Murlo where she fell in love with the tiny, unspoilt village of Montepescini. She bought the estate of Montepescini where, based on the experience she had acquired over the years, she found a particular lie of the land, special climatic conditions and an altitude suited to the creation of great wines. With enormous enthusiasm, doggedness and considerable effort, a reclamation programme was started to renew the terrain which was then used to plant 30 hectares of specialised vines. Sangiovese is the dominant vine, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Years of experimentation and the introduction of new winemaking techniques eventually led to the creation of Luciana di Memmi’s prestigious wines. Some years ago, Luciana Cilemmi succeeded in realising her dream of a lifetime: to return to her home town, San Gimignano. She was destined to buy the historic palace with the medieval tower, which had been owned by the prestigious Useppi family from 1200 to 1927 and had then passed to the noble and historic Chigi family of Siena. The Useppi were a powerful Sienese family who owned several castles. This beautiful medieval building has an elegant and distinctive façade full of Sienese and Pisan architectural influences. If you find yourself in San Gimignano, make sure you visit the Chigi Tower and Palace. Luciana Cilemmi holds regular events in the rooms of the medieval tower, such as the presentation of wines, both from her vineyards and elsewhere, attended by international journalists, experts from the sector and critics. She also organises exhibitions of works of art and paintings, and press conferences on the subject of "Wine in San Gimignano during medieval times”. Visiting the home of Luciana Cilemmi is like re-living an aspect of the past that will not return except through the imagination of those who have believed and continue to believe in this story.
