The PDO Riviera Ligure Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Protection Consortium (Consorzio di Tutela dell’Olio extravergine di oliva DOP Riviera Ligure) expands with the addition of two new consortium member companies from the Riviera di Levante. These two companies, whilst different in size, share a fundamental characteristic: love for the territory.
Going from Ponente to Levante, you first come across the Rural Agricultural Cooperative of Isola di Borgonovo. This is a relatively young company, being founded in 2005. It takes its name from one of the villages that make up the fabric of the comune of Mezzanego. Places from ancient Liguria, full of history that take us back to early Ligurian settlements and Roman colonisation. Places in which people live in direct contact with nature whilst being just a few kilometres from the sprawl of the Genoa metropolitan area. The Sturla valley, deep but not far from the sea, pressed between the coast, the sky and a biodiversity to explore. The aim of the Cooperative is to really enhance the territory’s products. Obviously, extra-virgin olive oil is at the front of the queue. The finishing point to certification and a guarantee of the DOP Riviera Ligure – Riviera di Levante is a natural consequence in relation to the market positioning based on a strong identity and correctness with respect to the public. The olives come from groves managed by the Cooperative. The dominant cultivar is the Lavagnina, famed cousin of the Taggiasca of western Liguria. The work is all done internally, with the Cooperative’s oil press working in three continuous phases to save water, with six temperature-adjustable kneaders and a working capacity of up to 1,500 kg (fifteen quintals) of olives an hour. It’s no coincidence that the bottle’s label for the DOP Riviera Ligure for Isola di Borgonovo has the subtitle: “Il tesoro della Suppressa” (the treasure of Suppressa), where suppressa is the area’s ancient term for olive press. But it doesn’t end there because the Cooperative is working hard to recover other ancient cultivations in the area, among which the “Misto Chiavari” hazelnut stands out with flavour that is in demand in the international confectionery sector.
Continuing towards Levante, we find “La Favola della Mignola”. The head office is in Lavagna and represents the fulfilment of a dream. A dream by Antonino Trifiletti who decided to change his life. No longer at a private telecommunications company, he’s now in contact with nature. It all began in 2014 with the first bit of land that had already been cultivated as a hobby. From there, other nearby olive-growing areas were acquired. The main one, with six hundred trees, mostly the Lavagnina cultivar, is an act of respect for those who had cultivated them for 40 years, managing them in an exemplary way. Another large plot represents an act of love for the territory because it happened by recovering land that had been abandoned. And this is what still needs to be done with many other Ligurian olive groves. It’s a point of credit, then. And lots of enthusiasm because to speak with Antonino Trifiletti is to speak with someone who cares about the fate of a family and who supports it in everything he does, who has shown a deep love for the territory and a positive, clear imagination that has been dropped into the name of his company. A boyhood dream that has come true and is producing well.
Details about these companies can be found on the Consortium’s website at: https://www.oliorivieraligure.it/business-directory/elenco-anime/riviera-levante
The PDO Riviera Ligure Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Protection Consortium (Consorzio per la Tutela dell’olio extravergine di oliva DOP Riviera Ligure) is made up of 542 consortium member companies of which 446 cultivate olives, 34 press olives and 72 bottle and pack.
In the 2015-2016 oil production year, 701.344 tonnes of extra-virgin olive oil were certified as DOP Riviera Ligure.
