There are people who know how to make their dreams come true. One of them is Cesare Buonamici who has dedicated his life to olive oil and has built an oil mill in tune with the landscape that the hills of Fiesole bestow but also with his ideas on how to bring a product of excellence to life.
Women of Wine and the Buonamici Oil Mill.
Oil is the protagonist of this vision of his, oil that besides being a health food becomes, like wine, a moment of experience and conviviality. The Buonamici oil mill welcomed the Women of Wine of Tuscany together with their delegate Donatella Cinelli Colombini for a tasting that was an ideal time to talk about oleotourism, but also of exchange and discussion thanks to the presence of some Women of Wine of Sardinia.
The new oil mill Buonamici brings with it the experience of the family farm and the innovative ideas that today’s market needs. A virtuous example of when the new blends with old working models, all set in a unique landscape of olive groves, woods and historic villas in which the farm is located, The Organic District of Fiesole, and is the leader of the Integrated Supply Chain Project “The Organic Oil of the Hills of Fiesole” of the Tuscany region.
The construction of the oil mill is developed within the hillside, and the part dedicated to reception that emerges, does not detract but adds: clean lines clad in stone perfectly in keeping with the typical Fiesolean style.
Nothing seems left to chance in terms of both pressing and reception. Every detail is taken care of with that mastery that links craftsmanship to innovation. The accommodation allows for a wide variety of experiences that include tastings, organizing dinners and lunches for many people but also devoting oneself to relaxation, meditation and enjoying oil massages.
The Women of Wine, who often also produce oil on their farms, were impressed by the capacity of the new Buonamici oil mill. With a total area of 250 hectares and 30,000 organically grown olive trees, the company, thanks to the innovative technology of its mill, produces oil of the highest quality with a processing capacity of 5,000 kg of olives per hour.
A mill that also serves other producers, always carefully chosen, and that divides with specific machinery each line of the organic and non-organic processes.
The rigor with which each step is carried out, from the harvesting of the olives, which are delivered within a few hours, to the careful control of temperatures throughout the extraction process, the absence of oxidative impact, filtration and state-of-the-art storage system ensure that the oil produced by this mill has very high levels of healthful substances such as biophenols, tocopherols and Oleuropein.
The Buonamici Farm’s olive trees are those typical of the area Frantoio, Moraiolo, Leccino, Pendolino, Maurino and Leccio del Corno but also varieties such as the Apulian Coratina, but also the Latium Itrana a very vigorous and rustic plant.
Cesare Buonamici’s passion shines through his every word, and the oils produced make an excellent account of the path the company has taken since 1991.
Cesare Buonamici
Our taste journey began with the monocultivar of the Itrana variety, a delicate oil with hints of artichoke, delicately spicy and continued with Il Salutaris Igt a product high in antioxidants and vitamin E, a Tuscan blend with Moraiolo, Leccino and a small part of Frantoio, delicate in aromas, spicy with important herbaceous hints. Next is another Salutaris oil made from prematurely harvested olives, greener, slightly spicy with a hint of almond in the background, very high in Omega 3 and Omega 6. To finish, the monocultivar Frantoio, strongly Tuscan, with its bold, bitter and captivating flavor. Throughout the dinner other oils appeared on the table to accompany crostini with olive paste, cured meats, crispy panzanella, cheeses, and pasta dishes paired with favorite oils. Of particular note was fresh shepherd’s ricotta with tangerine oil.
Oil tourism
Oil tourism is growing. It has been growing by 20 percent per year over the past three years with participation in tastings of the 60% Italians e 40% of foreign tourists . Recent reports show that there is an increasing demand for these experiences, and it is interesting to note how companies are being asked to differentiate experiences. Thus, classic tasting is no longer enough, but oil enters the imagination as a product to be known and experienced.
Oil tourists today want to enter the farm and learn about its history, participate in some stage of production, and taste the oil on typical local products. Differentiation then together with sustainability, and the opportunity to intereact with trained professional figures.
ISMEA data of 2023 show that Apulia is the region with the largest number of olive farms and mills (161,009 farms and 785 mills). This is followed by Sicily (96,176 holdings and 669 mills) and Calabria (79,965 and 564). Campania ranks fourth in number of holdings (51,600) and fifth, after Tuscany, in number of mills (339). Ancient oil mills, Oil Museum, production experiences, buying on the farm at bargain prices are the demands across age groups and show how oil can be an important economic sector to work on not only in terms of commercial sales but also culture.
