The extra-virgin olive oil is one of the most appreciated products of the mediaterranean tradition. Here at Villa Zagara Sorrento we produce our own olive oil. Our huge collection of secular olive trees makes us extract the most extraordinary extra-virgin olive oil.

But, how do we produce this precious oil?

First, let’s describe the “cultivar”, which is the type of olives cultivation used to produce the oil: the one we cultivate on the Sorrento Coast is named “Minucciola” as it is much more perfumed than other olive oils. The olives of the coast are green and then they become black when they are ripe.

One of the most important parts of the cultivation is the fruit set, made with mineral biological products, like the boron. Olive trees are treated with hormone traps for flies, major enemies olives. The cultivation process continues with the ripening of the olives. It is important to mention that it changes from year to year and depends on drought, lunar phases, fruit set and rainfall.The harvesting happens in the right moment of olives ripening, when yellow dots appear on the surface of the olives.  This process is made positioning big nets under the olive trees, that gather the olives fallen from the trees. The olives harvested are placed in large baskets with the help of refrigerators. The milling is done on the same day of the harvesting or at least the day after. Usually, in these days, around forty gardeners collect the olives.

The oil production procedure starts from defoliation, then it passes to the cold washing of the olives. Subsequently, through a mechanical procedure, the pit is carried out. At Villa Zagara Sorrento the pits are then reused as fuel pellets for stoves, while the extracted pulp passes through two separators, after the second one, the olive oil is ready for tasting without any need for further steps.The entire milling process must take place at a temperature not exceeding 24/25 degrees that is the temperature required for the PDO denomination, with the final tasting every 10/15 minutes to see the gustatory and olfactory regularity of the final product. The oil is then transferred to steel containers that have a maximum temperature of 25 celsius degrees.

The last phase is the bottling: the most important thing is using dark color bottles, because the sun oxidizes the olive oil, making them  lose their properties of the so-called “medicine oil”.

At Villa Zagara Sorrento this fragrant oil is the secret ingredient that makes each dish so delicious and unique. It has been defined by experts as one of the best of the South of Italy thanks to its ancient trees. For Villa Zagara Sorrento’s owners, producing olive oil is an important matter and all the family members are involved in it, keeping the same traditions from one generation to the other. Their secret? Producing it with passion.