The essence of the constant and careful work which has always been our distinctive feature.
Frantoio del Poggiolo, sitting half way up a hill among groves of olive trees, is the multi-functional center where an important part of our job takes place: combining the hard work we put in to achieve superior quality oil, and spreading the knowledge of extra virgin olive oil.
In 2001, we felt the need to improve raw material selection by increasing analysis checks on all parts of the production chain: cultivar selection, harvest, and pressing method optimization.
It is a selection task which we perform with great dedication to obtain a top quality product distinguished by our name.
We have always been earnest to spread extra virgin olive oil culture. For this reason, we open our Frantoio del Poggiolo to olive oil lovers and food experts who want to find out more about the secrets of olive oil and the best production techniques. Meetings, conferences, workshops and cooking classes create opportunities to share knowledge with famous chefs from different countries.
Our Frantoio del Poggiolo combines modern agricultural machinery with elegant residential spaces which welcome seminar and conference participants.
The harmony with which the various elements and furniture have been combined generates a cozy, elegant and familiar atmosphere.
On the first floor is the olive mill, the portico for olive unloading, and other agricultural spaces. The second floor is the residential area with ceiling trusses, wooden beams, terracotta floors, lime-washed plastered walls, art nouveau balustrades and glass lampshades.
The welcoming entrance hall leads through to a small wooden library packed with books on olive growing and production techniques. Further along the corridor is a large modern kitchen which opens up into a living room like a great stage, the source of inspiration for the culinary creations which our chef makes with our products. The guesthouse has seven elegant rooms with private bathroom.
Frantoio del Poggiolo is located on top of a hill extending for 98 acres planted with olive trees facing Spoleto valley.
This is the site of our olive grove with its 5,500 historic olive trees and a further 1,500 new trees distributed across 61 acres.
Some olive varieties we have chosen are native, some are imported: this enables us to study every growing, harvest, and working variable and phase.
Approximately 80% of our olives are Moraiolo, an almost exclusively Umbrian variety which is a distinctive characteristic of the Assisi-Spoleto oils. A further 12% is Frantoio and 4.5% is Leccino, two noble cultivars typical of central Italy, with the remaining 3.5% being comprised of other varieties.
The avant-garde machinery we need for the next stages of olive growing is also important. Frantoio del Poggiolo is an absolutely high performing technology center that guarantees top quality production. Our niche Novello, an unfiltered extra virgin olive oil, is also produced here in tiny quantities.
Balancing extra virgin aromas and giving it a noble flavor means choosing the right cultivars.
Each cultivar has its own characteristics and every year the climate, soil and season changes make a difference.
The ideal blend is a matter of recipes combining the best oils of a given harvest.
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Quality is not simply a matter of good raw materials, but also of correct procedures without neglecting elements such as harvest period, methods and storage which can impact on the taste of the final product.
Irrigation and different working time are decided on the basis of olive, cultivar and weather conditions.
