Category: the Marches

Colle Ostrense farm and dairy
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This family run farm was started in 1972 when the Pittalis family came from Sardinia and bought 3 farms from old farmers when most people were moving from the countryside to the cities. We were shown around the farm by Mrs. Pittalis who let us enter a big building with lots of sheep inside. Having scaled one of the enclosures inside the building, she came back holding a lamb in her arms. Since the sheep were inside enclosures and obviously not used to visitors, they were constantly moving around during our visit. After having been to the large building, we were allowed to enter another one where just a few sheep and chickens seemed to live a really tranquil life. Finally, we were shown their goats which lived outside in their own enclosure, while a small dog followed us wherever we went. We also had a look at their farmhouse dairy and their farm shop where we could buy delicious dairy products.

The animals
The farm has about 500 sheep from a race called Sarda known for its high milk production and the excellent quality of the lamb’s meat. Besides, they have about 30 goats, which they keep for the milk.

The sheep stayed inside during our stay, but usually they are free to enter and exit according to their wishes. However, they are kept inside in bad weather.

The harvests
The farm is growing the following types of forage for the animals:
- oats
- maize
- alfalfa
- wheat
The cultivated area extends to 100 hectares are they are also renting 10 hectares.

The dairy
They are producing sheep’s and goat’s cheese together with cow’s cheese with milk they are buying from nearby farms.

There are lots and lots of regulations for dairies and twice monthly inspectors are coming to check that the regulations are followed.

Children from local schools are allowed to come in order to watch cheesemaking and milking of the animals. If I heard correctly, the last one made a great impression on the children and it seems like they are happy letting someone else do it.

In addition to goat’s and the sheep’s cheese, they are also producing
- ricotta cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- yogurt
- fresh dairy products
Other products include
- fresh meat
- flour
- a flat bread from Sardinia called carasau
Tasting of cold cuts, cheeses and bread are provided for minimum 2 persons at a time. Regarding tasting, I can attest to the quality of their products having been treated to a delicious meal of cold cuts and cheeses together with Sardinian flat bread.

There is a facebook page for those who want to buy products from this farm.
13/11/2009
The Bianchi farm
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After having driven in the countryside of the Marches for some time, we arrived at the Bianchi farm, situated on the top of a hill from which a beautiful view can be enjoyed all the way to the Adriatic sea. Having cultivated barley at this farm for four generation, the present owners, Luciano e Simone Bianchi, decided to use most of their barley as an ingredient in their own beer. Thus, 80% of their barley is sent to a maltery in Rome, where the grains are made to germinate by soaking in water and are then quickly halted from germinating further by drying or heating with hot air.

In addition to malt, they are only using water, hops and yeast in order to make their beer, which is called Boccale d’Oro meaning Golden Mug of Beer.

Hops are female flower clusters of the humulus plant and they are imported from Germany and the Czech Republic. The hops are used in order to obtain the following:
- flavouring
- preservative agent
- contribute a bitterness that balances the sweetness of the malt
- an antibiotic effect that favours the activity of brewer’s yeast over less desirable microorganisms
- aid in keeping the froth for a longer time
Yeast are the microorganisms that is responsible for fermentation in beer. Yeast metabolises the sugars extracted from grains, which produces alcohol and carbon dioxide, and thereby turns wort into beer. In addition to fermenting the beer, yeast also influences the character and flavour of the beer.

In order to produce beer, the malt is immersed into hot water, where the action of certain enzymes present in the malt because of the former germination, the starches in the malt are converted to sugars creating the wort. Then, it’s possible to add all sorts of herbs, fruits, and berries in order to add flavour to the beer, although it’s most common to add hops.

At this brewery, they are keeping the mixture of water and malt at 78°C for 3 hours turning the mixture into a mush, while the starches of the oats are turning into sugars and the hops are added. Then, the mush is filtrated in order to remove solids. Finally, it’s applied to a separator which will remove the rest of the solids.

Then, yeast is added to the mixture which is allowed to ferment for 6 days at 10-12°C, alternatively for 2 months at 1°C. Afterwards, the beer is allowed to rest in large tanks creating a high pressure due to the carbon dioxide which is produced by fermentation. Finally, when the beer is mature, it’s bottled.

One production consists of 300 litres of beer and it lasts, in general, for 6 months.

This farm only produces light and bitter beers, having an alcohol level ranging from 2.5% to 5%. The beers are only sold in the Marches meaning a very small distribution. There is a pub next to the brewery where customers may enjoy the Boccale d’Oro beer together with their friends.

550 hectolitres of beer are produced annually at this combined farm and brewery.

After having made beer, the wort is used as fertiliser for the oats, while the residues, containing no alcohol, are used as chicken feed.
12/11/2009
Hand-made ice cream at Cocco Verde

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We went to visit an ice cream bar called Cocco Verde or the Green Coconut in Falconara Marittima, a town situated north of Ancona at the Adriatic coast. It was founded in 2007 by Riccardo De Simone.

Like any Italian ice cream bar, it had a wide selection of colourful ice creams like strawberry, hazel nut and pistachio. In addition, they had various tiny ice cream cones and rows of small, geometrically shaped containers filled with ice cream with a tiny biscuit or chocolate on top.

We were met by the owner Riccardo who showed us around his ice cream bar, and Micaela, a hard-working, extremely dexterous woman. While he was talking about ice cream and how they made it, she was busy preparing a mixture of milk and sugar together with powdered milk. Following a recipe, she weighed or measured the correct amount of each ingredient before putting them in a container. Finally, she used a mixer in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Then she poured it into an ice cream maker, where it would be raised to a temperature of 85°C in order to pasteurize the milk. Afterwards, the same machine would subject it to -10°C .

The mixture has to be subjected to a temperature of 85°C in order to make it secure for human consumption and to make an optimum bond between the solids and the water in the mixture resulting in a more stable structure and a more creamy weaving in the finished product.

The next phase transforms the mixture into ice cream by means of the cold, applying air and churning it continuously.

In fact, Riccardo told us that the fundamentals of making ice cream by hand is the mixture of air, water and sugar. In order to make the ice cream in the trays look palatable, they had used trial and error. During our visit we could see for ourselves fresh ice cream exiting from the machine and entering a bowl.

We learnt that hand-made ice cream is characterised by the use of prime and fresh materials. Comparing industrially made ice cream with hand-made ice cream the following numbers apply: 6-10% fats in ice creams made manually, 8-12 % fats in industrially made ones, maximum 35 % air in hand-made ice cream, while minimum 70 % in industrially made ones. Real hand-made ice cream contains a large amount of milk, at least 60 %, followed by 14–24 % sugar, and 5-20% cream. However, this ice cream bar doesn’t use cream.

During our visit Micaela also made a cone with a small hole at the pointed end. Then, she filled the cone with ice cream before applying it evenly to a set of small plastic containers, cutting chocolate in straight lines using only a knife, making small structures consisting of chocolate which she put on top of some of the ice creams, cutting up the peel of oranges in geometrical shapes which she used for embellishing some of the ice creams, pouring nuts and honey on an ice cream cake. In short, she made their products look delicious.

Presence of ice crystals is okay as long as their numbers are kept at a fairly low level. Negative characteristics include sandiness, that is, the ice cream looks like sand, and it’s caused by an inaccurate amount of powdered milk being applied to the mixture before heating and cooling. We were also told that a well-made ice cream should look smooth, which really wasn’t a surprise.

11/11/2009
Food store Co.P.AV.
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Co.P.AV, a cooperative of food producers, is selling not only fresh meat, but also wines with controlled origin, extra virgin olive oil, eggs, apples, legumes, fresh and seasoned cheeses from the Marches, bread, traditional sweets, local cold cuts, sausages and bacon made at the shop, The meat has to be tender, palatable, tasty, and first of all secure.

The following types of meat are sold at the shop:
- pork
- beef
- poultry
The butchery is located in Senegallia, about 15 km distant, and all the animals have been raised at local farms.

Upon our arrival, we first arrived at the shop, then were invited to enter the workshop inside the shop. We were shown how sausages are made by the owner Maurizio together with his employees Moris and Nicolò, using pork meat together with salt, pepper, garlic and water. All of them being dexterous, the work seemed quite easy, but had probably required years of practice. Moreover, we were shown preparation of deboned guinea-fowl with fennel, rabbit in pork roast and stuffed pigeon.

The making of sausages consist of:
- cut the pork meat into small pieces.
- apply salt, pepper and water with garlic to the meat.
- put the meat into a meat grinder.
- mix the ground meat with salt, pepper and water.
- rinse a bowel in water.
- fill a tube with the ground, salted, peppered and watered meat.
- place the tube horizontally, assemble a lid, with a plastic cylinder, at the end of the tube.
- attach the bowel to the plastic cylinder.
- push the ground meat through the plastic cylinder and into the bowel.
- cut the bowel near the plastic cylinder when the bowel is full.
- tie knots at regular intervals around the bowel.
11/11/2009
Silvano Strologo wine farm

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This small family-run farming company was created by a group of farmers, who decided to start cultivating vines in the 1960s. Thanks to Sante Giulio Strologo, vines were first planted on hillsides which had been bought for this purpose since a south-facing hill will receive more sunlight than flat ground, contributing to the photo-synthesis.

Besides, Mr Strologo was one of the founders of the “Consorzio per la Tutela del Rosso Conero”, an association for controlling the quality of the Rosso Conero wine made by wine farmers in this area.

A particular microclimate influenced by the sun-drenched hills and vicinity to the sea, make cultivation of vines particularly favourable. The ground in the zone of Conero is calcareous (chalky), residing on a base of clay and it is well adapted to cultivation of vines.

Mr Strologo let his son Silvano inherit the company some years ago, having grown up at a wine farm and grown passionate at making high quality wine. He has continued his father’s business and extended the property from 4 hectares in 1976 to 14 hectares at present.

The Strologo family lives in the same house as where the production, storage and tasting of wine takes place. Since we arrived in November, no production was going on, but we could at least have a look at their big, temperature-controlled steel containers and a wine cellar full of wooden barrels.

In addition to producing rosé wine, this company is also producing three types of red wine: the first one is called Julius after the owner’s father Giulio Strologo, but Julius (Caesar) is also the name of a Roman emperor. The second one is called Traiano (Trajan in English) after another Roman emperor, while Decebalo (Decebalus) was the chief of the Dacians (present-day Romania). After having been defeated by Trajan in battle, he committed suicide. The names of the wines have been conceived by a wine steward who has a good knowledge of Roman history. A white dessert wine called Muscà, which is very sweet, is made from the Muscat Blanc grapes.

The customers are frequently coming to the wine cellar before Christmas in order to buy presents and in the weekends during the rest of the year. The Strologo wine farm also delivers wine to various restaurants and about 40 % of the production is exported.

10/11/2009
Vito Celeste farm and farmhouse dairy
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After having finished the wine-tasting at the regional wine bar in Jesi, we drove in-land to the Vito Celeste farm. Being a bit off the beaten track, my guide Raffaela had to ask a shepherd for directions. Reaching the farm after dusk, we met the owner Arturo Valentino working outside on some kind of machine.

The farm
The Vito Celeste farm has been family-run for about 20 years, and Arturo Valentino is running the farm which was started by his grandfather. They also have an agri-tourism which was founded in 2004.

Arturo willingly showed us the shed where their animals were living followed by, maybe up to 8 big, white dogs.

The Jersey cows
The cows come from Jersey in the English channel. The milk of the Jersey cows contain lots of fats and proteins and it resembles sheep’s milk. In general, 100 kilogrammes of milk gives about 20 kilogrammes of cheese and a Jersey cow gives about 13-14 litres of milk daily.

The average age of the cows amounts to 8 and a half years. Insemination takes place when they are about 2 years and it’s completely natural by means of one of the farm’s 3 bulls. The animals stay in the sheds more or less all the time. The meat of the calves is of exceptional quality and it is served to the guests of the agri-tourism.

The sheep
The sheep are of the race Comisana, originating from Sicily, characterised by a red-brown muzzle and ewes producing about 2 litres of milk per day.

The race is mainly spread around Sicily and Calabria, but it’s also present in some regions of the centre and in northern Italy due to its great adaptability to diverse environments,

The wool is cut annually by master shearers coming all the way from Australia.

The cheeses
The farm is producing yogurt, soft cheese and mozzarella cheese.

The sheep’s cheese contain other types of proteins than the milk of the Jersey cows.

Selling of their products
The farm is selling their products to groups of supportive purchasing, delivering directly to their representatives. Lots of customers go to the farm in order to buy their products, which aren’t sold at any other shops.

The harvests
The farm is growing the following types of forage for the animals:
- barley
- hay
- alfalfa
- field bean (vicia faba), a type of legume able to prevent erosion because they can over-winter and fix nitrogen in the soil
- maize
- soya bean
Wine tasting

After having seen their animals, we were invited inside for tasting their cheeses and having a glass of wine. Since Arturo was using a dialect which was more or less incomprehensible to me, I had to ask Raffaela for a translation on the way back home.
09/11/2009
Regional wine bar

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I’ve participated in a tasting of white wine from the Marches together with some Polish, Canadian and Russian journalists. We tasted 21 types of wine, almost all of them being Verdicchio from 2007 and 2008. A wine waiter described the origin , the area and the quantity of the production, the year of production, which types of wine which are produced at the various wine farms and the price of each wine.

After the tasting, we voted for the 5 wines we liked best. Then, the wines which received the highest number of votes, having won the competition, the journalists could visit each of the wine farms which had produced the winning wines.

09/11/2009
Stefano Mancinelli wine and olive farm
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Arriving in early November, the grape harvest had finished in September, instead we arrived during the olive picking season. One of our first sights when we arrived at this farm, was someone loading olives through a netting working as a coarse filter for leaves and branches. After having passed the netting, the olives were led to a machine which extracted their oil. Unfortunately, there is almost nothing to see during this process and we listened instead to Stefano Mancinelli, the very friendly founder and owner of this farm. In addition to telling us about their products and how they are made, we were also shown around their premises, letting us see both the olive press, the wine tanks, the wine tasting room, the distillery and their shop.

The vines
The vines were planted in 1979 and the harvest takes place at the end of September producing about 1600 hectolitres per year.

The wine farm is mainly cultivating grapes called Tear (Lacrima in Italian) deriving its name from the fact that the grape skin cracks when the grape is mature, making the juice within the grape drip and making the grape seem like it is “crying”. This makes it difficult to estimate the optimal timepoint of the maturation without risking to lose the entirety of the product. Unfortunately, heavy rains at the time of maturation may destroy almost all or all of the mature grapes.

The wine farm is producing Lacrima di Morro d’Alba D.O.C. and Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi D.O.C. Classico.

The Verdicchio wine is made by using bitter grapes, while the passito wine is made by using more mature grapes.

The distillery
The distillery was founded in 1994 and they are using their own grape skins and not the residues remaining after production of the wines. The phases of the production of grappa are:
- dilution with demineralised water
- refrigeration
- filtration at -5°C
The distillery is producing Grappa di Lacrima and Grappa di Vedicchio.

The olive oil mill
The temperature of the olives are always kept below 28°C in order to ensure the quality of the olive oil. Harvest of the olives is immediately followed by production of olive oil. During fermentation water will increase the acidity of the olive oil. Olive oil which isn’t filtered create a deposit which will start fermenting. In general, the olive oil mills are using 2 separators in order to separate water and the solid stuff from the olive oil, while this mill is using 3 separators in order to remove minuscule particles and to obtain a very pure olive oil. The third separator makes the oil transparent.

This farm has about 1500 olive trees of the following types:
- frantoio
- raggiolo
- leccino
- raggia
The olives called raggia is the most precious type of olive and resembles the frantoio.

The olive mill produces extra virgin olive oil with very low acidity and with characteristics like fruitiness and a very nice flavour.
06/11/2009
Trionfi Honorati farm and Piandelmedico dairy
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The farm was started in 1939 by the marquis Antonio Trionfi Honorati who wanted to found a farmhouse dairy using milk from 30 Friesian cows. The farm has been owned by the Trionfi Honorati family ever since, and it is now being managed by the siblings Giulia and Antonio. Giulia is in charge of the farmhouse dairy and the well-stocked farm shop residing in the same building, while Antonio looks after the animals, whose number has grown to more than 300, consisting of both Friesian cows and buffaloes.

The animals
The farm has 190 cows, Dutch Friesian and 150 buffaloes. They are born in a special room and the birth may last up to a day for the cows, while it is very quick affair for the buffaloes.

The calves are staying in separate rooms for 3 months until they are weaned off cow’s milk. They receive milk from their mothers for the first four days because it’s important that the first milk they are drinking are from their mothers in order to reinforce their immune system. Thereafter, they are fed powder milk.

The health of the calves has to be controlled regularly. The young cows have to do 4 shifts from room to room, while the young buffaloes have to do only 3 shifts because they are less in need of controlling their health. The calves of the buffaloes are able to stand upright after only 20 minutes after birth because they are still preserving their wild characteristics.

The first insemination takes place when the cows are about 15-17 months depending on the development of the animal. The cows are always artificially inseminated, while this happens very seldom with the buffaloes. Instead, the farm’s bull called Ciccio is doing this job.

The buffaloes originate from Syria, coming to Italy during the barbaric invasions and found favourable environments in present Puglia and Campania. 70 buffaloes arrived at the farm in April 2004.

The customers are buying the meat of the calves, especially the male ones. The meat of the buffaloes is exceptional and it contains lots of iron and little cholesterol. Naturally, quality of the meat depends on the fodder.

Both maize, soy, oats and hay are grown at the farm and the animals are given a mix of these cereals. The farn has a mill where grinding and mixing of the cereals are carried out.

All the animals live in sheds all year. The owner, Antonio Trionfi, would like to release the animals to a pasture, but, unfortunately, there are people who open the fences surrounding the pasture permitting the animals to escape.

The milking of the cows is automated and the cows are milked twice daily. The Dutch Friesian cows are producing about 20 litres a day, while the buffaloes are producing about 8 litres. The milk of the buffaloes, containing about 8% fat, is not bottled.

Photographing the animals was interesting: the Friesian cows seemingly didn’t care about being photographed, while the buffaloes cared very much. All of them were very curious and even those who were lying down, ruminating, arose and looked at me curiously.

The cheeses
Even though the cheeses are made from the same milk, it’s possible to produce many different types of cheese. The types depend on, among other things:
- temperature
- type of coagulated milk
- salting
- container in order to shape the cheeses
- maturation
- type of cut
About 30 types of products, many of which are not traditional, are made at the dairy. Some of them are listed below:
- buffalo ricotta
- soft cheeses and cacetto
- buffalo yogurt
- buffalo vanilla ice cream
- mozzarella
- robioline
- primosale- sheep’s cheese
- stracchinella
- caciottina, ‘pasta filata’ style cheese with truffles
The farm has also a shop where the public can buy products from the dairy and other products mainly from the Marches. The customers are buying everything which is produced and it seems like the demand is greater than the supply.
06/11/2009
The Pieri farm
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The Pieri farm was founded in the 1830s and has been owned by the same family ever since. It is located in a lovely area stretching from near the Adriatic sea to a height of about 300 metres above sea level. We were shown around the farm by the present owner, Luigi Pieri. First we were shown their bakery where a young woman was making biscuits manually. Actually, biscuits, bread and jam are made by hand in this place, 2-3000 items annually.

Next, we went to their wine cellar where were treated to a glass of their excellent Merlot wine straight from a storage tank. We also passed their vineyards before arriving at their olive grove where one of his employees was picking olives by means of a machine powered by a car battery. Having first put a net on the ground below the trees, he let the rotating blades of the machine touch the branches of the trees, bringing down the olives.

The vines
The grapes mature at different times and the harvest, which is done manually, is carried out in the following order:
- Merlot
- Syrah
- Montepulciano
- Sangiovese
The wines

The following wines are produced at this farm:
- Rosso del Poggio
- Rosso Conero Pieri Bottiglia Toscanello
- Rosso Conero Pieri Bottiglia Bordolese
- Rosso Conero Pieri Bottiglia Futura
- Academus
The olives
The following types of olive trees are cultivated:
- frantoio – 80%
- leccino – 10%
- pendolino – 10%
Some of the characteristics of the olives are the following:
- frantoio – large size, fruity, rather strong aftertaste
- leccino – round shape, mild sweet flavour
- pendolino – small size
Since the olives aren’t able to pollinate themselves, the olive trees are mixed such that different types of olive trees are planted next to each other making bees able to pollinate them.

The olive trees are grafted onto other specimens in order to grow well at a nursery in San Benedetto where they are sold when they have reached 3 years of age. The olive trees become productive after 12-13 years, that is, when a tree is capable of producing at least 20 kg of olives.

Copper is used in order to limit fungous infections. As regards the olive fruit fly, which deposits eggs inside the olives, an insecticide called Rogor is used, a product which is not soluble in fat, hence it will disappear together with water and the olive residues during production of olive oil.

Olive trees are very hardy, drought-, disease- and fire-resistant and they are well adapted to the Mediterranean climate.

The extension of the area set aside for the olive trees is 4.5 hectares.

Other products
The following products are also produced:

Cereals:
- durum wheat
- spelt
- maize
Legumes:
- chickpea
- lentil
- grass pea
Fruits:
- peach
- fig
- jujube
- tomato
- pumpkin
05/11/2009
Mussels of Portonovo

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The Mediterranean mussels are reproducing naturally and are living attached to underwater stones along the Riviera of Conero.

The harvest of the mussels has to be limited in order to ensure their survival. Thus, the amount which is harvested has to be kept at maximum at the same rate as the mussels are reproducing. Moreover, the mussels have to be harvested in a certain underwater area and everything has to be traceable.

Since they close at the end of October and we arrived at the beginning of November, it wasn’t possible to photograph what they are doing.

More information can be found here.

04/11/2009
Il Sassone wine farm and guest house

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This wine farm produces the wines Rosso Conero and Marche Rosso IGT.

They aren’t using any herbicides or any chemical fertilisers, and even though the wine farm isn’t organic, the environmental impact is low.

The grapes may be collected 4 years after the vines have been planted, but an optimal production has to wait until the vines, which have been bought from a nursery, are about 10 years old.

The grapes are collected at different times of the year starting with Merlot at the beginning of September, followed by Cabernet Sauvignon at the end of September, and Montepulciano in October.

The wine farm has a wine cellar containing 30 oak barrels. When a barrel is filled with red wine, the wood will absorb some of the wine. Two schools of thought exist regarding how to counteract this effect: either refill the barrel according to the amount of wine which has been absorbed by the barrel or just accept that a certain amount of the wine, on the order of 10%, will disappear. This wine farm prefer to keep the barrels closed during the ageing, meaning that they accept the inherent loss. Naturally, the oak barrels will contribute to the flavour of the wine.

The dregs are transported to a distillery in Pesaro in order to make grappa.

The owner of the wine farm has been taught that the three most important things in wine production are represented by three letters of C: cleanliness, cleanliness, cleanliness!

04/11/2009
Mercante wine farm
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This is a family-driven wine farm where the production and storage of the wine takes place in the same house as where the Mercante family lives, and the vineyards are located next to their house. They bought a vineyard next to their property from an old farmer in 1999, assuring the new owners that the vines he had planted 20 years before were still producing grapes of optimum quality. Replacing the old vines with new Rosso Conero DOC vines the same year, they were able to produce their first full harvest in 2004.

The philosophy of the Mercante family is always to do only what is required with the vines, leaving as much as possible to nature.

We were shown around their combined shop and wine production premises by Adriana Mercante, the owner of the farm. They are cultivating Sangiovese and Montepulciano and they are producing red wine called Rosso Conero and rosé wine.

The vines cover an area of about 5 hectares, and pruning is carried out by experts in winter.

In order to counteract mildew on the vines, a powder containing sulphur and copper is used. Use of this mixture is allowed in organic farming due to the fact that it only stays on the surfaces of the vines. Before use, the powder is mixed with water and the mixture is poured into a cistern. Then, it is towed by a tractor and sprayed onto each row of vines.

Traps containing pheromones are used in order to attract and finish off male insects, which are harmful to the vines.

Removing herbs between the vines is done mechanically with a tractor and manually using hoes.

The organic wine made at the farm is not filtered much: crystals, which look like sugar, occur at the bottom of each bottle, which is really a residue from calcium, a salty and natural deposit. Filtering repeatedly will remove parts of the substance of the wine.

Different types of wines may be obtained from the same grapes as described below:
- rosé wine – the grape skins remain for a short time in the must, which is freshly pressed grape juice that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the grapes (about 10 hours) .
- red wine – the grape skins remain for a longer time in the must (7-15 days).
The dregs are deposits of the vegetal materials which form sediments in the containers and is formed during fermentation, ageing and storage. They have to be destroyed according to Italian law at authorised distilleries for producing grappa in in order to avoid fraud using the dregs to produce wine by means of chemicals. The dregs are transported to a distillery in Perugia and a packing list is mandatory.
03/11/2009
The olive harvest at del Carmine
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Having arrived at the del Carmine olive farm, we first noticed the house with the olive press and numerous olive trees. In fact, we had to ask for directions in order to find out where the olive harvest was taking place. Then, having walked a few hundred metres, we could follow the sound in order to find the workers doing the olive harvest.

The labourers are using a machine which applies a net around the base of the olive tree. The machine makes the tree shake, while the labourers are hitting the branches with big sticks. The harvest is finished after a few minutes, the net is removed from the tree and is closed forming a temporary container for the olives. Then, the closed net is raised above a container into which the olives are let fall by opening the net. When the container is full, it gets transported to the olive oil mill where the contents is emptied into two big aereated plastic cases in order to impede fermentation of the olives.

Production of olive oil
Since the olive harvest is highly mechanized, the olives are harvested together with leaves and parts of the twigs. Naturally, the last ones have to be removed. First, the harvest is poured into a container with a hole at its base. Then, the hole is opened and everything falls down on a conveyor belt where it’s transported to a machine which blows away the twigs and the leaves, while leaving the olives intact. Then, the olives are compressed and transformed into a paste. The paste is then transferred to big containers where it is stirred and made more solid. Then, the paste is led to a centrifuge which separates water and oil from the paste. In addition, the centrifuge will deposit a residue which is used as fertilizer for the trees. That is, the olive trees will receive the nutrients contained in the olives.

The rest of the paste ends up as olive oil and constitutes maximum 20% of the original mass of the olives.

The oils and their characteristics
This farm produces the following 5 types of olive oil:
- the monovariety of Leccino
- the monovariety of Frantoio
- the monovariety of Ascolo (origin: Ascoli Piceno)
  the variety FS17 (created by means of liberal pollination of Frantoio at the Institute of Olivoculture in Perugia)
- a blend
The wanted characteristics of olive oil include:
- fruity
- piquant
- bitter
The unwanted characteristics of olive oil include:
- rancidness caused by contact with oxygen.
- avvinato (no translation yet) caused by excessive fermentation.
- riscaldo (no translation yet) caused by an advanced degree of lactic fermentation.
The qualities of olive oil are:
- extra virgin
- virgin
- lampante (not for human consumption)
Treatment of the olive trees
The pruning of the olive trees consists of removing some of the branches of the tree in order to force the nutrients to reach the new olives.

Olive oil tasting
Before tasting of olive oil, the oil has to be heated to about 28°C in order to make it emit all its aroma.

Other information
The extension of the farm is 20 hectares where 1 hectare is being used for solar panels.

Other products
The company is also selling chocolate and a cake called panettone, products which are made by local producers using extra virgin oil from del Carmine instead of vegetable fats or butter.

The olive oil is also used for beauty products like face creams and soaps for showering.

The restaurant

There is also a small restaurant located next to the house with the olive press. Paying a modest sum, we were treated with a nice selection of their olive oils together with a delicious dinner.
02/11/2009