Umbria
Umbria is Italy’s most mysterious region. Home of the ancient Etruscans, a civilization that flourished in the shadows of its many hills. With no coastline, surrounded by mountains, Umbria was always hard to reach.
The hills made farming difficult, but Umbrians – shadow people, – learned to manage the land despite its uneven terrain, cold winters, and harsh winds. Umbria doesn’t look like the rest of Italy. It’s wilder. Rougher. So are its people, and so are its farms.
Produce grown in these harsh conditions can be extraordinary. Apples, grapes, and apricots are the world’s best, when they survive. Despite the uncertainty, Umbrians grow them, but rarely exclusively. Almost everyone keeps an olive grove, because the varietals planted in Umbria thrive despite the weather. Some years are better than others, but we haven’t had a catastrophic season since 1956.
Most olive groves are planted on hills. This makes picking the olives difficult, but the slope prevents water from stagnating and ruining the trees.
Olive Oil
Suggested pairings
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Bruschetta
Drizzle this olive oil over toasted bread, or use it to enhance toppings like fresh tomato, basil, or arugula and parmesan.
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Salad dressing
Whisk Umbrian Gold with sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard, shallots, salt and pepper.
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Grilled vegetables
This olive oil is perfect for grilling vegetables, such as asparagus, zucchini, and eggplant. Pour fresh oil over the vegetables before serving. Nothing healthier!
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Pasta
Add a drizzle of this olive oil to your favorite pasta dish for a boost of flavor.
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Dipping oil
Serve this olive oil with bread and salt for a simple and delicious appetizer.
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Anything, really
We make a delicious olive oil cake, and sometimes pour it over ice cream!
Olio Nuovo
Freshly-pressed early season oil is called “olio nuovo”, new oil. Olio nuovo is spicy. This year’s Umbrian Gold includes oil from six different pressings. Early pressings were definitely olio nuovo, which contributes to the blend’s spice. Later pressings support the bold, well balanced structure.
Unlike wine which can improve with age, oil deteriorates with time. Oil lasts a year.
After a month it mellows noticeably. Flavors blend and accents are less sharp, but the oil’s structure is still evident. This is its noble period. After a year, the structure has all but disappeared. Some Umbrians will continue using it for cooking but, as a condiment it will immediately be replaced by the next vintage.
Families
We know all of the families – including our own! – that have contributed olives to this vintage. Some groves are as small as 25 trees, some as big as 350. By any standard, the big groves are small! Groves that are producing top-quality olives today were planted at least two generations ago. Olive trees can live to 500 years, but trees that old are rare in Umbria due to frequent seismic activity.
Only one generation ago olives were picked by hand, with ladders and baskets. Today, we use nets and beaters powered by compressed air or batteries. It is still painstaking work. The season starts in mid-October and runs to mid-November. During that month the weather can change from hot and dry to cold and rainy, almost overnight.
