“Only through agricultural work can one attain a rational and moral life.

Agriculture teaches us what is more necessary and what is less so. It guides our life in a rational way. One must touch the earth.”

(Leo Tolstoy)

The estate extends across three municipalities on the Tramontana Coast (Castell’Umberto, Naso, and Tortorici) and, in addition to its finest extra virgin olive oil, produces citrus fruits and other fruit in its hillside properties, as well as traditional cheeses (canestrato, provole, and sun-dried salted ricotta) in the former Abbadessa estate, located at 1,200 metres above sea level on the splendid Nebrodi mountain range.

Our olive oil comes from centuries-old trees growing on the hillsides. On the green hills of ancient Castania di Valdemone (today Castell’Umberto, in the province of Messina), it is still possible to find majestic ancient olive trees that yield the smallest olives in the world, the so-called “minute”.

From the pressing of these small fruits, distinguished by their very low oil yield, the estate produces, using traditional stone mills and a cold extraction process, an extra virgin olive oil that is exceptionally light, delicate, and fragrant, ideal both for raw seasoning and for frying.
Its hint of bay leaf on the finish and its beautifully fruity aroma make it an oil especially appreciated by true connoisseurs.
Its very low acidity, together with its organoleptic qualities and nutritional properties, also make it particularly suitable for low-fat diets, children’s nutrition, and the prevention of cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis.

Guests may also witness the olive harvest, which usually takes place in November and December.

The harvesting methods remain, even today, those of the past and are therefore entirely traditional: men and women bending to spread out the nets and shaking the branches with long, specially designed sticks (“rumazzaturi”), used to beat the foliage vigorously and bring down the fruit, with no use of machinery whatsoever.