Antica Tenuta dei Principi Pignatelli, aka Tenuta Pignatelli (for vacationers), La Conigliera (for rabbit hunters) and Olio Verde (for olive oil connoisseurs) is located on the southwestern coast of Sicily, facing Tunisia and the African continent. The sea, which can be seen through the olive grove, lies just about 6 miles (10km) from the estate.

First, a little background:

In the gentle uplands of southwestern Sicily, Gianfranco Becchina’s country estate is an ideal location for growing olives. Sixty acres of groves – circa three thousand olive trees – roll away behind the hills surrounding the estate, bathing in the Sicilian sunlight and the saline breeze from the Mediterranean.

The olives are the most sought-after variety, Nocellara del Belice,  full and round like the nut after which they are named. The olives also grow back to back on a twig like hazelnuts which reinforces the parallel. Amongst the 700 olive varieties that Italy has to offer, the Nocellara del Belice is one of the top-three, perfect for eating…and for making oil. Some of Becchina’s trees date back as far as 300 years, while the oldest “monumental” tree on the estate is over 6 centuries old. Each tree is nourished by organic fertilizer (horse manure mostly, and mud from the sedimented milling waste water) and an elaborate irrigation system delivers water directly from a tapped spring.

Every winter all trees are trimmed and pruned so over 50% of their foliage and new growth is removed. This ensures the low, airy boxed shape you need to efficiently pick the fruit manually and a richer better looking olive fruit too. Once upon a time the belief was that yearly pruning limited the crop, but this regular clipping has now been adopted as it improves the quality of the olives.

Herewith, our simple concept:

To make excellent oil, you need only two things: (1) excellent raw material and (2) uncompromising milling standards.

(1) Ensuring excellent raw material depends on (a) processing the best possible olive varieties grown accordingly, (b) applying the best harvesting technique and (c) choosing the best ripeness stage of the fruit i.e. picking at the right time.

(2) Uncompromising milling standards are characterized by (a) cleanliness and (b) forsaking the traditionally widespread cost/time saving and yield maximizing tricks. Lastly, delivering excellent olive oil to end-consumers is key. And that is the real issue, in fact more often than with production… (read more on the topic of authenticity in our posts).

And here the step-by-step method:

Harvesting: At harvest time at Olio Verde, Gianfranco relies on the delicate method of hand-picking the olives known as “plucking”, as was used in the old days, in order to prevent any possible bruising and subsequent oxidation of the fruit that often occurs with the more commonly used methods of branch combing, branch shaking or simply laying nets on the ground to collect the olives as they mature and fall. Gianfranco’s olive trees are pruned wide and low to facilitate this method. The “plucked” olives are placed in wicker or airy plastic baskets in the fields until there are taken to be pressed.

The olives are captured at their fullest while still green, but coated with a light whitish sheen (a layer of lactobacilli and natural waxes) that only exists in October. This “white phase” is regarded as premature – yields being much lower than in a later harvest. In fact, Gianfranco’s trees yield only about 10 liters of oil each. But Gianfranco seeks the strong green flavors in his oil and a high taste profile. This is the age-old dilemma between quality and quantity, which Gianfranco resolved in favor of the former.

Besides producing a far-superior oil, the early harvesting also prevents the need for insecticides. Such  treatments are usually performed when the olive is riper and most susceptible to the mosca olearia plague. At that point, however, most of Olio Verde, filled with the intense aroma of green fruit, is already safely decanting in large stainless steel containers.

Any olive oil that is produced using only mechanical means (i.e. without the use of chemicals) is known as a “first or single pressed olive oil”, and, needless to say, the machinery one uses is of the utmost importance. Becchina prefers a continuous cycle oil mill by Pieralisi. A disk grinding crusher is used to crush the olives whole, with their pits, as they contain a high quantity of trace minerals and flavor components.

Malaxation: Once the olives have been crushed, they form a paste which is then kneaded for about 45 minutes with coil blades. This gently malaxation causes a pre-separation of the oil from the rest of the olive paste. The magic of all properties of olives being transfered into the oil takes place just at this point – it is the most important part of the process.

A word on cold pressing: cold pressing is essential to preserve the properties of olive oil. By law, it means that at no time during any stage of the process should the temperature rise above 27°C (80.6°F), which can happen if millers either speed up the process due to time or cost saving issues or if they add hot water to the processing so as to maximize oil extraction, a common practice all over the world and one that lowers the quality of olive oil. Although the process of cold pressing leads to less oil extraction, it is a price Gianfranco is happy to pay in order to maintain the product’s integrity. In fact, at Olio Verde, the temperature  during the entire process never rises above 19-21°C (66-70°F), which is room temperature around Fall in that coastal part of Sicily.

The bottled-to-order factor accounts for the varying degrees of opacity of Olio Verde, as it depends on which point of its decantation the oil was removed from the containers. Whenever in doubt as to the best storage material and conditions, think: stainless steal or glass – cool, dark place (wine cellar-like). Avoid oxygen, light and heat. Remember to use up a bottle within two months to avoid oxygen-caused deterioration of the oil (and if using a value-packaging such as a can, no need to worry until actually opening it for the first time, in which case it is best to transfer the oil to several dry and clean glass or steel bottles, capping them and storing them until  needed).

Better yet would be to consume olive oil in flows so that one needn’t worry about storage nor deterioration… Herewith, we’d officially like to coin the new term “olivolics” proudly introducing us olive-oil-dependant people to the world as a cohesive group of consumers who aren’t afraid of spending for a bottle of excellent olive oil what they’d spend on a decent bottle of wine, the former lasting up to several weeks whereas the latter lasts at most a couple of hours…depending on the company.

…and that is how we produce Olio Verde, a 100% first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil with a near lack of acidity (0.1%).