Wine and Olives

I have come across a great Tuscan proverb that says: 'where olives can't grow, a great wine is impossible to make'. Olives and vines both have an ancient history of cultivation and respond to being grown with love and care.  This allows the terroir (the alchemy of plant, environment and soil) to influence the resulting oil and wine.  Visit the Olive Picking Video Diaries to see two wineries one in Portugal and one in California, both growing olives for extra virgin olive oil.

Yes The Olives Are Ready

 

Just back from a fortnight spent in Le Marche in Italy.  Everywhere we went there were olives just waiting to be picked.

Everyone is Busy



A little quicker than hand picking but not as peaceful

This week everywhere is alive with the sound of people being busy on their land.  Tractors are driving up and down the fields, olives are being taken from the trees - it is great to be part of this rural way of life if only for a while.

Italian Olives

Help Available With Your Olive Harvest

Thanks to Russ and Sergio at La Grande Quercia for this brilliant photo.  This is a fabulous boutique bed and breakfast in Abruzzo.




 If the thought of your olive harvest leaves you feeling like this read on ... 

An Italian speaking American based in Turin is available at weekends and would like to volunteer to help you.  If you can provide an opportunity for olive picking please make contact via An American In Turin.

How Many Olives Are Needed to Make Olive Oil?

There are a huge number of olive varieties and these vary in their oil content.  The amount of oil that an olive produces is also influenced by the growing and climatic conditions and of course the milling process.

Generally it will take somewhere between 4 and 8 kg of olives to make a litre of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and that will involve picking over 1000 olives.

hand picked olives waiting to go and be milled

Olive Varieties - the Cornicabra

Did you know that Spain has more than 250 varieties of olive in cultivation?  Many of these have wonderfully evocative names like the 'cornicabra' which means 'goat's horn' and gets its name from the shape of the fruit (plus I have to say some imagination!)  The oil itself is fruity and golden yellow with a smooth and velvety texture.



The Cornicabra

  Picture credit: http://www.asoliva.es/