The Madonie: Olive Oil Season

New Olive Oil in the Madonie: Olive Harvesting, Colour and Flavour

After the grape harvest comes the olive season in the Madonie. Between late October and December, the countryside around Petralia Sottana fills with nets spread beneath the trees, crates brimming with olives and a constant flow of vehicles heading to the local olive mills. It is one of Sicily's oldest traditions, and its reward is one of the most eagerly awaited flavours of the year: new olive oil.

The Harvest, Among Hills and Mountains
In the Petralia Sottana area, olive groves are mainly found on the lower hills and along the valleys, where the climate is milder. Here, much of the harvest is still carried out by hand or with small mechanical olive harvesters. Nets are spread beneath the trees, the olives are shaken loose and collected in crates. The ideal time to harvest is during veraison, when the olives begin to change colour from green to purple: the perfect balance between aroma, flavour and yield. It is often a family affair, bringing different generations together in the same fields, with the same spirit with which we tend the vegetable garden and vineyard at Masseria Sant'Elia.

From the Olive Mill to the Table
Freshly harvested olives should be taken to the olive mill as quickly as possible: the fresher they are, the better the oil retains its aromas. They are washed, crushed and cold-extracted at low temperatures to preserve their fragrance and beneficial properties. At this time of year, the scent of an olive mill is unmistakable: freshly cut grass, leaves and artichoke. These are weeks when olive mills work around the clock and conversations throughout the villages of the Madonie revolve around extraction yields and the quality of the harvest.

The Colour and Flavour of New Olive Oil
Freshly pressed olive oil has an intense green colour, sometimes with golden hues, and is often slightly cloudy because it has not yet been filtered. Over the following months, its colour becomes lighter and its flavour mellows. On the palate, it is vibrant and distinctive:
- Fruity, with notes of fresh grass, tomato leaves and green almonds;
- Bitter, a pleasant note reminiscent of artichoke;
- Peppery, with a tingling sensation in the throat that reveals the presence of polyphenols, valuable antioxidants.
Bitterness and pepperiness are not defects: they are the hallmark of fresh, high-quality olive oil.

How to Enjoy It
The best way is also the simplest: a slice of toasted homemade bread, a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt. It is also perfect drizzled over a legume soup or freshly cooked vegetables. Pair it with a glass of Lilium Petrae Rosso, our red wine grown at an altitude of one thousand metres.

Bread, olive oil and wine: the oldest flavours of our land, still the truest today. Discover all our wines in our wine shop and bring the flavours of the Madonie to your table.