The Gift of Nature

OLIO DI GRAZIA

“NEC PLUS ULTRA”

Unfiltered Olive Oil
Extra Virgin, Organic and Protected Designation of Origin

Quality olive oil is (not) an art, as a famous slogan says. Olive oil is a gift from Nature, a gift and nothing more. Better years, worse years… first comes cultivation, the famous five “S” of the olive tree: Sun, Stones, Drought, Silence, Solitude. Then we seek to obtain the best, waiting for the olives to mature so that they increase the content of precious polyphenols and reduce their water content. If the olives are destined for oil production, the moment of harvesting is fundamental for creating a good oil; therefore, living in the middle of our own olive grove, as we do, is the first condition to be able to define ourselves as “olive growers by passion”. Then comes the harvest… only from the tree, never olives from the ground, and only manually (hand-picking), without the use of shakers or other mechanisation that could harm our trees, which we have learned to consider as “members of the family”.

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These same trees, more than 200 years old, and the carefully selected distribution of the cultivars Nocellara, Biancolilla and Cerasuola play a fundamental role in giving our oil a Unique character. In addition, several almond and fig trees are scattered among the olive trees and add fragrance after fragrance. This is why we believe that producing a good oil is within everyone’s reach, but a Unique oil is a gift from Nature. Completing this masterpiece is an organic farming system applied without exception and the annual registration of our 1,500 trees with the D.O.P. “Valli Trapanesi”, which clearly identifies the production area. By typing “Villa Giardinata” on Google Earth or Maps, you can see where we live (which is also our company headquarters) and the surrounding trees from which we extract what Homer called the “liquid gold”. The “Di Grazia” oil, named after the surname of the family that has produced it since 1829, is pressed by the “Giardinata” Agricultural Company.
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Giardinata is also the name of the place where we cultivate our olive trees with extraordinary characteristics, probably known since ancient times. History tells that Federico III of Aragon fell in love with it in 1314, during Roberto d’Angiò’s expedition to Sicily, and wanted to donate these extensive olive groves to the Mother Church of Erice. The former Giardinata estate remained property of the Church for more than three hundred years before finally passing to the Grazia family. When the Di Grazia family acquired the estate, they found a true paradise; this place was a garden, there were peacocks, palm trees and plants of every kind, and everything cultivated here produced much more than in other areas. Due to the royal road that crossed it, a watchtower was built, followed by some rooms, and later a mill and an olive oil press that still exists today! We invite you to visit our small olive oil estate, which today also offers tourist accommodation. Little remains of this incredible history, but great is the passion that drives those who produce an oil that is good, truly excellent…. Unique! From Sicily, Vincenzo and the little Francesco and Antonio.
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