Greetings from Harvest!
Welcome to Harvest 2020
Happy harvest!
Fall harvest is well underway in Calabria which means we’ve had plenty sleepless nights, early mornings, and daily visits to the press. It's still warm here but the familiar scent of shifting seasons hangs in the air. We expect cooler weather by the end of the month, and hoping heavy wind/rain will hold off until mid-November.
Calabria Update
Loud neighbors, tractors, and the constant chatter from the fish shop across the street. These are our current daily scenes. The tourists have gone and the town has gotten quieter by the day... except our street.
We have a neighbor that is eccentric... He speaks quite loud. In fact, so loud that it echoes off all the buildings on our street before ricocheting into our home and reverberating off every surface creating a chamber of noise we can't seem to escape. Some days we think we're going to accidentally bump into him on the way to the bathroom.
Every time he starts, Lina's eyes widen and she looks towards the window as if to say "Can you believe this guy?". Giuseppe and I chuckle and continue our daily tasks. In all honestly, it's hilarious and megaphone companies could use our street as a case study.
Tractors wiz by our house, we pass more on the road every day, and if there's traffic there's a 50% chance a tractor is involved. It's the sign of harvest and we can't wait to start seeing more towing olives to the mill!
Turi's Message
We don't talk about him much, but he's always here. A calm and patient presence, Salvatore, Giuseppe's father sits in the corner of the living room in his chair tittering to himself as he listens to Lina and Giuseppe bicker about which pasta pairs best with which sauce, the 'correct order' in which to cook seafood and the shells (still up for debate), or her complete lack of patience when making 'ragù'.
I often look over at him from the kitchen, his scruffy eyebrows shoot up, a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin. In a single look, he says "let's stay out of this one, lol!". He can communicate an entire paragraph of emotion in 3 seconds with facial expressions. He's a classy old school Calabrian man, whip-thin, and always cheery (except when he's hungry, same).
Salvatore, whom the TURI is named after, planted all of the 30-year-old trees on our estate after retiring quite young. We don't think there's a better match for an olive tree. His patience and love for the trees are never-ending. Up until a few years ago, he would bike to campagna (countryside) every single day to check on the trees. It's no wonder the TURI is our best selling oil.
Olive Oil Production
We've harvested Carolea, Coratina, Leccino, and Nocellara del Belice. The first oil to be produced was the LINA. You can watch the entire harvesting and milling process on our Instagram (we will continue to save to highlights).
Harvest isn't finished! In this corner of Italy harvest can last all the way to the end of December depending on the cultivar. Our mornings now start with tasting oils (before coffee). It's incredible the weeks after milling the oils continue to develop and change.
Harvest is very emotionally draining because we work for an entire year then harvest in a short(-ish) amount of time and the milling process takes less than one hour. So far the oils are tasting amazing and we will continue to taste (almost) daily until it's time for bottling at the end of the year.
We've also been spending a lot of time checking on fellow producers, checking out other mills, and connecting with local makers. Earlier this month we met with the renowned Antonio Lauro. Antonio is an agronomist, educator, olive oil sommelier, and panel leader. And guess what? He's from Calabria, about an hour away from us! We will never forget our first harvest in 2017 when we brought our oils to him, it feels like things are really coming full circle. Also, it's incredible how jammed packed this little corner of Italy is with olive oil producers and fanatics.
2019 Harvest Backorders
We released backorders for the TURI and LINA! And they're almost sold out (grazie!). Current backorders are for 2019 harvest oils ONLY.
2020 harvest preorders have not launched yet. Expect another emailing with preorder info in November/December with product arriving early 2021 : )
Press
We have some incredible new press to share with you:
features in Condé Nast Traveler and Cuisine Noir!
Thank you for your continued support!
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for more.
A presto,
-Skyler & Giuseppe
www.EXAUoliveoil.com