Olive oil from our family’s grove, above the Ionian Sea.
Picked by hand every autumn, cold-pressed, and bottled in one small numbered edition a year. This is extra virgin olive oil the way the family has always made it for their own table.
The nets are down.
Nets are spread under every tree so no olive touches the ground. The branches are combed with hand rakes, the fruit is gathered from the nets, and leaves and twigs are picked out by hand before the crates leave for the mill.
Caminia, on the Gulf of Squillace
Caminia is a small stretch of coast near Stalettì, in the province of Catanzaro, where the hills come straight down to the Ionian Sea. Our olive trees grow on that slope, close enough to the beach to see the water between the branches.
Sun, sea air and old, gnarled trunks: that is the whole recipe. Nothing is added later.
What “extra virgin” actually means
A bottle that only says “olive oil” is mostly refined oil, processed with heat and filters until it has almost no taste, then blended with a little virgin oil. Extra virgin is the top grade, and it has to earn the name.
| Grade | Extra virgin (Bartolio) | “Olive oil” / “light” | Pomace oil |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it’s made | Olives crushed and pressed mechanically. That’s it. | Refined oil (heat, filtering, deodorising) blended with some virgin oil | Leftover olive paste, extracted with solvents, then refined |
| Heat or chemicals | None. Cold-pressed. | Yes, in the refined part | Yes |
| Free acidity (EU limit) | 0.8% or less | 1% or less, after refining | 1% or less, after refining |
| Taste | Fruity, often grassy with a peppery finish. Must pass a tasting panel with zero defects. | Mild to almost neutral | Neutral |
| Best for | Bread, salads, finishing pasta and fish, everything raw | General cooking | Frying |
That peppery tickle at the back of your throat is a good sign: it comes from the natural antioxidants in fresh extra virgin oil.
Five steps, all by the family
Nets
Spread under each tree so the olives land clean and undamaged.
Picking
Branches combed with hand rakes. No machines shaking the trunks.
Sorting
Leaves, twigs and damaged fruit removed by hand in the crates.
Pressing
Taken to the frantoio and cold-pressed, so nothing is cooked out of the oil.
Numbering
Bottled and numbered one by one. Each harvest starts again at N° 1.
One harvest, a few bottles, each with its own number
Harvest 2025
Our first edition. 150 bottles, numbered N° 1 to N° 150, gone within weeks.
Harvest 2026
Picking started on 18 October. We’ll know how many bottles there are once the oil is pressed.
Every bottle has a number and a year.
Look at the label: you’ll find something like N° 37 · 2025. Enter it here to see where your bottle came from, or check whether your lucky number is still available.
Want a bottle this year?
Last year’s edition sold out quickly. Send us a WhatsApp message and we’ll put your name down. You’ll hear from us as soon as we know how many bottles there are.