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Capezzana - Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 500 mL
Regular price $42.99 USDRegular price
About Capezzana
- Based in
- Carmignano (Prato), Tuscany, Italy
- Founded
- 804 AD (earliest written record)
- Known for
- Carmignano wine and organic olive oil
A parchment dated 804 AD, held in the Florence state archive, records olives and vines growing at Capezzana for fine oils and wines. The estate sits in the hills of Carmignano, near Prato, and passed through several families over the centuries, among them the Cantucci, the Bourbon del Monte and the Adimari Morelli.
In the 1920s Count Alessandro Contini Bonacossi and his wife Vittoria bought the property and added three neighboring farms: Trefiano, Cerretino and Poggetto. The Contini Bonacossi family still runs it, now in its fourth and fifth generations. Vittorio Contini Bonacossi brought in organic farming in the 2000s.
Capezzana makes wine as well as oil, and both come from the same land. The oil is organic extra virgin, from olives grown around Carmignano and pressed at the estate's mill. Good extra virgin olive oil shows best raw, where you can taste it: over white beans, on grilled bread, or poured over a bowl of ribollita at the table.
Capezzana questions
Does Capezzana farm organically, and what does extra virgin mean?
Yes. Organic means the olives are grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers on a farm checked by a certifier, and Capezzana has farmed this way since the 2000s. Its oil is also extra virgin, the top grade: it is pressed out by mechanical means only, with no solvents or refining, and must taste fruity with no flaws. Capezzana presses its olives within 24 hours of picking and keeps processing slow and cool to hold on to the aromas.
What is Carmignano, the area where Capezzana farms?
Carmignano is a small hill area near Prato, about 10 miles northwest of Florence. In 1716 Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici named it one of four Tuscan areas producing the best wine and gave it legal protection. Its red wine, based on Sangiovese with some Cabernet, gained DOCG status, Italy's highest wine classification, in 1990.
