A day in the middle of November. Rather a strange November, warm. And the sky that gives glimpses of light between low, damp clouds. The sun warming our olive trees cheers us up. At the first light of dawn, the pickers are already on the site. They unload the electric olive harvesters, unwind cables and put the batteries in position. They lay down the closely-knit nets quickly, guided by their wisdom and experience. Every centimetre of the field of action is thus covered. It’s not easy: the terraces are quick narrow and the nets have to be wrapped around the trees. It is their moment, after all. We have worked all year for the olives that are about to be picked. The faces of the pickers in the olive grove have a concentrated expression but are smiling. The view opens into Impero Valley between the fronts of olive trees. The small villages along the hillside can be observed. The dance, that is the olive dance, begins. The branches shaken by the electric harvesters drop the precious olives onto the nets. This year, it’s a magnificent spectacle. It’s raining olives. Perfectly ripe for oil of an extremely high quality. The pickers move round the trees with method and circumspection, following an ideal, regular path. From the top to the bottom of the foliage, moving around the tree. Care is taken to avoid damaging and trampling on the olives. The nets are pulled delicately as from a boat when fishing. The olives slip from one net to the one below. They fall freely and are then collected. Then the plastic self-supporting baskets arrive. Other quick movements, while kneeling. And then away on the pick-up truck. The agronomist that followed the Olive grove for us also arrives. Further discussion on good harvesting practice follows. This all goes on for two days. The batches of olives are pressed within 24 hours. It’s a memorable harvest: 3077.50 kg from 137 trees, pruned and nourished. We have 616 kg of oil equivalent to 672 litres. The certification and bottling process then begins. Follow us: we will give you every detail on the costs and commitments involved. At the end of the day, however, what really counts is our satisfaction for the enchanting sweetness and character of the Riviera Ligure PDO oil. In this case, with the geographical indication Riviera dei Fiori.
