Supporting the Artisans
You will be back !
But in the meantime one meaningful way to draw you you closer to Italy is to support artisans who, like us, greatly need your support.
My husband Robert and I have been doing this steadily during these last months, and feel lucky to be able to lend a hand to gifted Italian friends who make beautiful things by hand using products of the earth.
We urge you to join us and do the same !
Two Tuscan artisans whom we are delighted to support are siblings Ilaria and Antonio Cavallini who produce a very special olive oil that I first discovered when I stayed with them 25 years ago. Our family has also loved and enjoyed their wines (Decanter prize winners, and rich in the flavors of their terroir), most of all Rosi, which for years was our house wine.
Ilaria and Antonio own a property in Chianti Classico, Il Borghetto, that was originally their Milanese parents’ country house, but that over the decades has become an inn and villa that delights our travelers. Few guests are coming this year, of course, as Europeans and Americans are Borghetto’s primary clients.
Ilaria and Antonio have expanded, nurtured and applied biodynamic agricultural principles to what are now 30 acres of mixed vines and olives. This year, it will be the vines and olives that will support Il Borghetto, and this is where they need our support.
The olive trees are four varieties : Morellino, Frantoiano, Pendolino and Leccino. When pressed and blended the olives yield oils that are are brilliantly yellow green with a slightly pungent aroma and a soft fragrance of artichoke.
Oils are directly bottled on the property. We use them for everything !
Adoption of three trees means three liters of 2020 (new) season olive oil plus a 10% discount for the November Harvest. The three liters of oil come in a compact, lightweight can.
You receive an Organic Agriculture Supporter certificate and can follow the life cycle of your trees from flowering..
to harvesting, to pressing via the property’s Instagram page. I adopted nine trees, and you can see these marked with an M in the image below.
There are few things worse than being neglected into oblivion. And to see olives, those most generous and least demanding of trees, fall into oblivion would be heartbreaking.
There is a particular satisfaction to nurturing an Italian olive tree, providing for its financial support for a year and supporting the careful environmental practices that will keep it healthy and well. As you enjoy your oil, there is also much joy in enjoying a direct connection to what you are eating. Additionally, to find Italian oil this good in a US retail store would cost you so much more, and to receive your oil delivered to your doorstep seems like no less than magic.
Il Borghetto’s Adopt an Olive program is priced at 55 Euro for adoption of three trees, to include three liters of olive oil. Shipping is extra. Order at https://ilborghetto.bigcartel.com/products. Your new season oil will be delivered in October or November.
In the next days, I will share details on other artisans I am supporting and that might help you think about how you can, now, deepen your own connection with Italy.
A presto !
Marjorie
www.insidersitaly.com