Returning to the Taurino Olive Farm: Puglia

Pulgia, Italy

Taurino's Olive Farm

After my first visit to Taurino's Olive farm I adopted a 1,000 year old tree.    This visit was at the end of the harvest when the tress were still heavy with olives and the lush green of the acres upon acres of trees was  a stark contrast to the days I had spent in the cities of  Florence and Rome.

An invitation to view the process of oil production was only possible on both trips via arrangement by Yle Sambati the CEO of Yltour.com.      The previous visit was a detailed description on oil production and the 'correct' way to taste oil.   see http://hometoitaly.blogspot.com/2013/02/1000-year-old-olive-tree-at-taurinos.html

Olive picking is an art..  When you have thousands of trees this is not a quick process, but a careful one so that the 'fruit' is not damaged.

Mr Taurino through our interpreter explained to our large group how the picking process is done.     Ground cover is placed under each tree so that the olives can be easily gathered

Our large group was given an opportunity to 'rake' the olives by hand.   It is a very slow process and very hard work.  

Collected olives are brought to the processing room to be washed, sorted and the crushing.

The temperature controlled lower level has enormous metal vats that will hold the oil until bottling and shipping.   see details on the process at http://hometoitaly.blogspot.com/2012/12/learning-to-taste-olive-oil.html

A large showroom adjacent to the pressing facility offers a wonderful selection of oils, olive spreads and many other snacks and treats.