La Sorgente, our family-run farm, produces olive oil and jam. Since 1999 we have been strictly following the protocols of the ICEA (Istituto per la Certificazione Etica e Ambientale = Italian Institute for Ethical and Environmental Certification) which regulates the growing and processing of organic products. In March 2003 we have joined the “family” of organic farmers to all intents and purposes.
First of all it was an ethical choice, as we really believe in the possibility of eating without exploiting nature by respecting its rules and harmony.
The Tuscan tradition of growing olive trees for the production of olive oil is therefore very old and the love for this product is imprinted in our family’s DNA. Everything starts between winter and spring, when skilful hands prune the trees and prepare them for the blossom and fructification. It’s a complicated and fascinating work and it shows how the synergy between man and tree can give positive results without using any chemical products.
In spring small bunches of light yellow, called “mignola”, come out on the olive branches that are supposed to fructify, but only a small part of them will become olives. During summer and autumn the tree transforms what it absorbs from the ground into nourishment for the fruits. This is how olives grow and ripen and how they acquire their organoleptic characteristics that we find in the olive oil and which are so precious for our organism.
The olive harvest starts in the beginning of November and is entirely carried out by hand. The pressing is carried out not more than 48 hours after the harvest: the less time goes by between those last two work steps the less the olives oxidize, maintaining unaltered their organoleptic characteristics. In this way we get an olive oil with a very low level of acidity, with intense fragrances and of a very high quality.
Our oil doesn’t undergo further processing after the pressing: we do not cut it with other oils and we do not centrifuge, colour or lighten it, and in all these years we have always received a very positive feedback by both, experts and normal consumers.
