Groves

Calluzzi is where it all began... the land adjacent to our family home. Many of the trees that make up the grove in Calluzzi are 100 years old or older with saplings planted among the older trees.  This section is only 1/4 of the grove that has been divided amongst 8 children.

The trees in the Cardolo section of the grove are a mix of young and old olives with various fruit trees scattered among them including fig and orange trees. Cardolo is also the name of the neighborhood located nearby, which is down the road from our family mill.

The trees in the Carlocimino grove are tiered and sit on a hilltop overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. On a clear day you can see the island of Stromboli, which is one of Italy’s three active volcanoes situated off the coast of Calabria. In 1934 we opened our first olive mill in Carlocimino. The new mill is located just below the grove.

Most of the trees in the Casa Vecchia section of the grove are well over 100 years old with some trees dating back 200 years or more. They share the land with an old abandoned house (Casa Vecchia means Old House.) The trees were neglected for many years before we cleaned them up and are now back to producing beautiful olives.

The trees in La Chiusa are located a short walk from Calluzzi in an area bordered by woods where our nonno showed us how to forage for wild mushrooms. La Chiusa used to be a cherry orchard but the cherry trees were replaced by olives about 40 years ago... you can still find a few fruit trees among the olives.

The olive trees in Mattiu are bordered by a section of woods and we often see wild boar roaming through the grove. The trees are 80 to 100 years old (with a few youngsters in between) and the trunks are beginning to knot like their older brothers and sisters. Mattiu is a short walk down a country road from the Casa Vecchia grove.

Many of the olive trees in the Melia section of the grove are well over a century old with some trees 200 years old or more.  The tree trunks are twisted and imperfectly beautiful. This section of the grove is nestled between two hills and if they could speak, the stories they would tell.....

The trees in Melia Collina sit on a hilltop overlooking the valley below. The grove  is peaceful with views of the       surrounding hills & vineyards. In "olive tree terms" the trees in Melia Collina are young (30-60 years old) and happily share the grove with a section of vineyard which produces some amazing wine!

In 2019 we were asked to manage the grove of a local Bed & Breakfast located just minutes from our mill. We have known the owner, Claudia for many years and her property has a spectacular swimming pool and grand views of the mountains and Tyrrhenian Sea. A great place to stay when visiting your tree!

Pedia is a small section of town with a handful of country homes located down the road from Calluzzi. A local sheep farmer can often be seen passing through with his herd - otherwise, it's a pretty quiet section of the grove… a great place to grow olives.

We acquired the San Filippo grove in 2020. The 3000 trees that make up the grove had been abandoned since 1984 and after a lot of hard work, the grove is on its way back to its former glory.  The benefit of having the grove untouched for so many years is that it is on the fast-track to organic certification. The grove was once owned by the Baron Alemanni, a wealthy land owner who once lived in the area.  

The Sugheri section of the grove is located next to a national park a few kilometers from our family olive mill. Sughero means cork in Italian and the grove gets its name from the abundant number of Cork trees in the area. The bark from Cork trees is harvested to make corks for wine bottles.