About Colonna (Marina Colonna)
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The remarkable history of the Colonna family in Italy goes as far back in time as to 1195, when Giovanni was the first of many members of the Colonna family to become a Cardinal.
Learn more about the Colonna Family
Colonna (Marina Colonna) is:
Care: the very best quality from tree to table, naturally.
Selection: perfumes and flavors of over thirteen olive varieties, skillfully blended.
Tradition: respecting the past for a better future.
Knowledge: 200 years of understanding the land.
Being in the Masseria (Italian for "large farm" and the company's state name) is like a journey back in time… travelling along old roads buried deep in Molise’s green hills with their rarefied air and ancient ambiance; there, in the gently undulating countryside where the golden light plays on patches of silver-green olive trees and fields of yellow wheat.
The olive tree plays the leading role on this stage, both in the scenery and in the history of the land. It is here on the farm inherited in 1996 from her father, don Francesco Colonna, that Marina Colonna’s extra virgin olive oil came to life.
The origins of the relationship between an ancient Roman family and this farmland on the border between Molise and Puglia dates back to the beginning of the 1800s. The Duchess Cattaneo di Sannicandro married Aspreno Colonna and with the bride came the land as part of her dowry.
The olive tree plays the leading role on this stage, both in the scenery and in the history of the land. It is here on the farm inherited in 1996 from her father, don Francesco Colonna, that Marina Colonna’s extra virgin olive oil came to life. Masseria Bosco Pontoni is near San Martino in Pensilis, 120 metres above sea level. There are 180 hectares of olive groves, cereals and vegetable crops.
Olive Varieties
The olive groves cover 55 hectares and there are many different cultivars. More than half of the estate’s groves is certified organic. There are historic, local varieties and other experimental types of olive, altogether over 15 cultivars:
Leccino, Frantoio, Peranzana, Gentile di Larino, Coratina, Ascolana Tenera, FS17, Cima di Melfi, Rosciola, Maiatica, Nocellara del Belice, Itrana, Kalamata, Termite di Bitetto, Leccio del Corno.
Farming methods
Quality is a product of care and attention: in the case of olive groves, the choice of fertilizer is crucial, this is a very delicate moment in the nurture of all plants. The Colonna olive groves are treated using natural fertilizers together with compost produced on the estate. The main pruning season is the winter, this revitalizes the plants, while light summer pruning is carried out selectively. In the hot summer months the trees are watered with a droplet system, decisive for the survival of the plants and for the optimum development of the fruit, thus avoiding stress through lack of water, which can compromise the growth and productivity of the plants.
The harvest
The skill to recognize the correct moment to harvest is one of the most important aspects of olive farming, as many experts say that quality “is made in the field”. In Southern Molise, the olive reaches the onset of ripeness, which is the ideal point to begin harvesting, at the beginning of October and this is when harvest starts.
Only at this precise moment does the olive contain a high percentage of polyphenols, which will provide the main characteristics of the oil: its longevity and anti-oxidant properties. Teams of six expert harvesters work hard with pneumatic combs helping the olives to fall from the trees into the nets below. Table olives on the other hand are always harvested and selected by hand.
Arrival at the mill
At last the olives reach the mill where they are put into large open bins so that the air can circulate and avoid fermentation. Within 12 hours of harvest, the olives begin the transformation process. They are weighed and then tipped into a huge funnel sending them into the machine that removes the leaves and twigs, which inevitably get picked together with the fruit. The olives are then washed and conveyed into the mill.
There are two fundamental requisites for the extraction of a good quality oil: rigorous control of the grinding time and of the water temperature that must be below 27°C at all times.
The olives are milled using a disk crusher which turns them into an “oil paste”, made up of oil, water and solid parts. This paste is then ground inside stainless steel tanks for about half an hour (the exact time depends on the olive variety), which facilitates the dissolution of the oil molecule. The separation of the solid and liquid parts is carried out in a three-phase centrifuge which separates the oil, the solid waste (pomace) and the water.
The oily substance flows into the separator where it undergoes a last separation between water and oil, now ready for consumption. The pomace will be used as an ingredient for the compost and the waters are spread on the soil, according to the existing rules regarding agricultural waste.
The oils obtained from the different varieties are stored in stainless steel vats under nitrogen, each variety is kept separate until it is used for the final blend.
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