Mr Minghella’s Single-estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Hand-picked | Cold-pressed | Unfiltered | Organic
Our tiny olive grove dates from the 1700s and nestles one thousand feet above sea level on the edge of the Tiber valley in the colli Amerini (the hills of Amelia) of southern Umbria.
The area is known as the strada dell’ olio, with its coveted “DOP” protected appellations.
The air is clear and the climate is lush in spring with ample rainfall, then hot (but not usually scorchingly so) in summer, then crisp and delicious in autumn. They don’t call it Green Umbria for nothing.
And our little slice of this great area seems uniquely favourable to the olives. Maybe it’s the very particular rocky red soil. Maybe it’s the airy freshness of the location, far from tarmacked roads, tucked just under the hilltop town of Porchiano del Monte (130 inhabitants); altitude without exposure. Who knows?
But the taste this combination of factors produces is extraordinary. When we heard it mentioned, without any fanfare whatsoever, that our neighbour’s oil was acknowledged as the finest in Italy, we weren’t surprised. We think ours is pretty special too! (Last year, we were rated second in the area. Does that make us the second best oil in Italy!? Ma certo!)
Our olives are picked in early November – just as the biting winds arrive, much to the consternation of Paola, Gianfranco and family, who are tasked with the laborious raccolta. Here’s a photo from the 2018 harvest, which took 5 people a week.
Once collected, the olives are taken to our local mill (or frantoio) in nearby Lugnano in Teverina. Here our exhausted friends wait while the mill owner presses the oil, staying into the night if necessary, as oil this precious cannot be left unattended. (It’s not that anybody is worried that some darling oil might be illicitly siphoned off, you understand! Or worse – mixed with someone else’s of inferior quality!)
The pressing is cold and the ‘unfiltered’ oil is transferred to stainless steel fusti (drums) and returned to our cantina. After settling, the oil is separated from the sediment and the result is… well, we think, out of this world.
This quality of oil rarely leaves Italy. You won’t find it in any supermarket. You won’t even find it among the ranks of £70/bottle oils in Fortnum’s. Our production quantities are so small that we will never sell it commercially, or justify official seals and stamps.
You’ll just have to trust us that our oil is:
- Single-estate in the coveted colli Amerini of Umbria
- Hand-picked
- Cold-pressed
- Unblended
- Unfiltered
- Extra vergine
- Organic – using only organic fertilisers & never sprayed with nasties
- Hand bottled – with love
- Exclusive – tiny quantities & for our friends only!
“Avrei dovuto scriverti e dirti che il vostro olio e’ veramente squistio con il giusto grado di potenza per renderlo pieno di vitalita senza uccidere il gusto dell’ oliva.
Me lo tengo tutto per me e egoisticamente non lo faccio assaggiare a nessuno, perche tanto non lo apprezzerebbero.”
– Anna del Conte, the food writers’ food writer
“LITERALLY the best olive oil i have ever used ever in all my life ever.”
~ Emma Freud
