The olive harvest in Tuscany has begun.
As I woke up this morning to the sound of pounding rain and thunder, I rushed to the window to see if I had any clothes hanging on the clothesline. Luckily I didn't. The next thought was "Will today's cyclists show up or back out due to the bad weather?" I called the office, and five people were reserved, but would they want to ride in the rain? Arriving soaked at the starting point, I hoped I would have a group. I was already wet, but was geared up and ready to ride. Of the five people reserved on the tour, four backed out. Doug from Australia and I started out riding in the pouring rain through puddles of water and mud, not knowing what wonders the day had in store for us.
Tuscany's drama never fails to excite. Even in the rain Tuscany showed herself off, flaunting her intense colors, bragging outloud with mysterious sounds, smells, sensations. As heaven would have it, the rain stopped, allowing us to see more clearly into the olive groves, and revealing that the raccolta has begun! The harvest of the olives is weather-dependent and you never know exactly when it will happen. Well, it happened today!
When we arrived at the winery I took Doug for a tour of the wine cellars where the smell of fermenting grapes has reached the height of its intensity, intoxicating us just by inhaling the fumes. The grapes had just finished their first fermenation and the skins and seeds were there in front of our eyes being sent off to the grappa distillery.
But the highlight of the day was when we moved from the bottling room to the frantoio (which is where the olive oil is produced) where the smell of extra virgin olive oil filled the air. They were "test pressing" the very first olives of the harvest, and at lunch we were the very first guests to taste the new olive oil....unfiltered, the olives were just pressed 3 hours before!
Tuscany's drama never fails to excite. Even in the rain Tuscany showed herself off, flaunting her intense colors, bragging outloud with mysterious sounds, smells, sensations. As heaven would have it, the rain stopped, allowing us to see more clearly into the olive groves, and revealing that the raccolta has begun! The harvest of the olives is weather-dependent and you never know exactly when it will happen. Well, it happened today!When we arrived at the winery I took Doug for a tour of the wine cellars where the smell of fermenting grapes has reached the height of its intensity, intoxicating us just by inhaling the fumes. The grapes had just finished their first fermenation and the skins and seeds were there in front of our eyes being sent off to the grappa distillery.
But the highlight of the day was when we moved from the bottling room to the frantoio (which is where the olive oil is produced) where the smell of extra virgin olive oil filled the air. They were "test pressing" the very first olives of the harvest, and at lunch we were the very first guests to taste the new olive oil....unfiltered, the olives were just pressed 3 hours before!
.
I touched the sacred bottle with great respect. I gently poured the liquid gold onto a piece of Tuscan bread, amd could not believe the bright green color that came from the bottle, it almost looked fake. I was startled. Newborn, only hours old, extra virgin olive oil. It was one of life's exquisite moments.
We celebrated a very special day in Tuscany.
We celebrated a very special day in Tuscany.
