Olive Oil from Italy and the Mediterranean Region
Olive Oil Appreciation Tours in Le Marche
Olivaverde is has its main base in Italy in the Le Marche region on the Adriatic coast, just north of Ancona, this area of Italy was virtually unknown outside of Italy before the arrival of low cost flights in the year 2000.
Over many years of working in Italy we have made many good friends and colleagues and now we offer both food, wine and olive oil appreciation tours and holidays of high quality in southern and central Le Marche.
The tours range from a one day in duration with lunch to up to a week in length visiting the two different areas of Le Marche we cover, and they are all organised and overseen by talented local Italians who are fluent in English. They are passionate about this beautiful region of Italy and have an in depth knowledge of the areas in which they live and work. They help bring alive both the produce and history of their particular area of Le Marche and enjoy sharing their knowledge with visitors and students who are from outside of the region.
The tours and holidays on offer by the Olivaverde team are mostly in and around the villages of Monterubbiano, Carassai and Campofilone in the south of the region and the near the resort of Senigallia and villages of Ronticelli and Corinaldo in central Le Marche. Visits to small olive oil producers include visiting their olive groves as well as the mills where the oil is produced and tastings of the oils where they are pressed and made.
There is also the opportunity to attend tastings which will be run by professional olive oil tasters and where many of the local olive oils will be available to try.
Visits to producers of olive oil made by organic methods as well as biodynamic oils will be available in a select few of the tours and holidays, and we hope to increase the number available over the coming years.
In the case of the wine tours and tastings, both the local white and red wines will be available to sample as well as visits to the vineyards and the producers. The white wine of the Le Marche region which is most widely known is Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and these high quality white wines are produced around the area of Castelli di Jesi and Matelica. The wines are noted for light green appearance from which they derive their name and their high acidity and a characteristic almond flavour and are now widely available in the UK and Ireland.
But Le Marche is not known as a region of Italy which produces good red wine, but in fact there are many fine red wines available, including Rosso Conero, Rosso Piceno and the wonderful Lacrima di Morro d’Alba. Visits to the producers of all these notable wines as well as many other fine wines produced in Le Marche are available on the tours offered by Olivaverde in Le Marche.
Below you can find some sample tours we can offer, just click on the name to see the details. Each itinerary can be personalised and tailor made accordingly with your interests and made longer or shorter depending on your time availability
Please get in touch at olivaverdeit@gmail.com for any enquiry and to ask for a quote
Tours in Le Marche Region, Central Italy
Sibillini Mountains with Hiking Itinerary
Olive Oil Appreciation Tours in Sicily
One of the most beautiful parts of Italy is the Island of Sicily and we are lucky to have excellent contacts on the Island thorough our collaboration with both members of Slow Food Sicilia and also several small artisan Sicilian food and wines businesses who come from many different areas and towns across the whole of the Island of Sicily. The extra virgin olive oil producers that we currently work with are mainly located in the east of Sicily in the area around Catania, Messina and Syracuse and in the north west near Trapani. We have been working with these producers for many years and in our opinion their olive oils are some of the best to be found in the Mediterranean region.
Our Sicilian tours range from a one day in duration to up to four days in length and as with our mainland Italian tours they are all organised and overseen by talented local Sicilians who are very knowledgeable about their local area and are fluent in English. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, and architecture. Sicily is also home to important world heritage archaeological sites, many reflect the different cultures and races that have inhabited the Island over the generations, including the Phoenician, Greek and Norman invaders.
Visits to small artisan olive oil producers also include visiting the olive groves as well as the mills where the oil is produced, and there are tutored tastings of the fine extra virgin olive oils in the mills where they are pressed and bottled. Our tutors will also teach about the many varieties of indigenous olives that are used to produce Sicilian olive oils, their botanical makeup and current day methods of production and distribution. Most of the olive oil producers we include in our tours of Sicily and in our workshops only produce olive oil made by organic methods and a select few produce rare biodynamic extra virgin olive oils.
New tour packages coming soon...
Olive oil appreciation tours in Malta
In the beautiful Island of Malta Olivaverde can offer several wonderful venues for both olive oil, wine tours and accompanying food appreciation holidays. The venues are all within 30 minutes of the capital Valletta and are all set in lovely olive groves owned by private small olive oil producers and local Maltese farmers.
The olive tours and visits also have a large educational element with courses about both Maltese indigenous oils and other Mediterranean olive oils, ans accommodation can be arranged locally for both short holiday lettings and longer stays. At one of our chosen venues there is a small restaurant area and also a kitchen area where cookery courses are held, at another an open air area which allows for both olive oil tasting classes and also food comprising of only Maltese local dishes. Our olive oil appreciation classes are also held in the large open area on the large terrace overlooking the Maltese countryside.
Olivaverde can offer a whole package of food, wine and olive oil appreciation tours in Malta and if required we can also contact small producers in Gozo and we are very pleased to have been in cooperation with two Gozitan olive oil producers for over 10 years.
Malta has two indigenous olive varieties the main variety now cultivated is the Bidni olive which has only recently been brought back from near extinction by Italian scientists working with Maltese olive growers who have been passionate in their quest to revive the growth of Bidni olives on Malta and also to make limited quantities of olive oil from this rare variety.
We can arrange for visits to three olive groves which contain Bidni trees and for special tasting classes which include Bidni olive oil as well as blended Maltese olive oils and some oils made form the more common Italian and Spanish varieties.
Olive oil appreciation tours in Umbria
Tenuta di Saragano is a wonderful estate located between Todi and Montefalco in Umbria.
The estate is in the heart of Umbria’s olive oil area and is also a great tourist region with the olive oil museum at the hilltop village of Trevi, the vineyards of Montefalco and the basilica of Assisi all within a 30 minute drive. This area of Umbria is renowned for producing wonderful sweet and fruity extra virgin olive oils and the oil produced at the Tenuta di Saragano is among the best available to the general public.
The Count Pongelli family have owned the estate since the 14th century and the production of first class olive oil has been maintained throughout that time. The olive groves are planted with the usual triumverate of Frantoio, Leccino and Moraiolo olive varieties found in Umbria and the Frantoio variety dominates in the extra virgin olive oil making up just over 50% of the blend. These varieties blended together give the olive oils from this part of Umbria their special distinct flavour and colour. The groves have been cultivated since the 14th century and have always been free of the use of chemicals and additives and that is still the case today. Olives are harvested from end of October through to December and are processed with traditional millstones and a sinolea machine, which cuts the paste with 5,000 tiny stainless steel knives. This process extracts 60% of the oil from the paste. The oil is bottled unfiltered and the sediment is allow to drop out of the liquid naturally.
The magnificent villa offers guests 12 wonderful bedrooms with antique furniture, four poster beds and two suites with fireplace and provides the perfect romantic getaway, a wonderful venue to celebrate a special anniversary or family party, or a place to relax and unwind from the stresses of life in beautiful surroundings where nature and history are embraced. Not only that La Ghirlanda has been awarded the very prestigious title "Best Agriturismo in Italy 2010" in DOVE magazine, the number 1 Italian magazine for travelling and accommodation in Italy. Where else better to receive such acclaim, who knows Italy better than Italians!
The lovely intimate restaurant produces typical Umbrian cuisine and rich breakfast buffet. The villa offers also mountain-bikes, horse riding, swimming-pool with panoramic view and an exquisite service that encourages relaxation and peace, allowing guests to discover the charm of a countryside life.
Please do get in touch with us at olivaverdeit@gmail.com for more information about all our tours and classes and we are always very pleased to prepare individual quotes for our clients.