Because the ripening of the olives occurs between October and December, about a month after the grape harvest, the cold weather makes the gathering job difficult. Tarps are laid out under the old trees. Ladders are used to reach the olives in the taller trees. With hands and plastic rakes approximately four workers per tree pluck away the olives. Each worker wears an "apron" container.
Plastic lug boxes are filled from these and weighed with a hoped for yield of just over 2 tons. Early harvesting insures a peppery Tuscan style of oil. The olives are stone crushed and the paste is cold pressed. There is no filtering but the oil is racked one time before bottling. This old fashion way with high tech equipment and attention to detail makes superior oil!
The oil is "cured" in the wine cellar and with the New Year bottling time comes. The beautiful bottles are labeled with a Grace Family Vineyards' inspired label that is topped with a Lowell Herrero rendering of a woman picking olives. This year 6 bottle allotments are offered to clients of the winery and the 2002 vintage olive oil is also available at Dean and DeLucca and the catalogue the Grateful Palate.
The art of producing world class extra virgin olive oil has many similarities to the harvesting of exceptional grapes and producing of fine wine. As witness their 25 year commitment to quality in the world of wine, the Graces' passion is to produce the very best olive oil possible.
Checking over the harvest with Umberto Chironi.
A labelling party in January.
From left to right: Gloria Preciado, Ann Grace, Maria Navone, Ana Ortiz
