Carolea: the Calabria Olive Tree

“Look at the light on the olive trees… it shines like a diamond!” Auguste Renoir

 

The Ciampa Antico Extra Virgin Olive Oil is made from the Calabria olive tree “Carolea”. The Carolea olive tree is fostered by weather factors, such as warm and dry summers and low dampness. The cultivation of the Carolea involves tree’s pollination, fruit ripening, apt stocking conditions, pruning, and milling techniques, all carefully channeled to enhance the oil’s quality.

 

Altogether these factors allow for no specific intervention on man’s side, besides pruning (correctly) at the right time of year. The weather and ecosystem factors do the rest.

 

The Carolea olive tree grows to 800 mt altitude. It starts producing and blossoming very early and the pollen germinated very easily. Productivity is high and constant, and fruit ripening progressive. Harvest is end of October, beginning of November. The tree is particularly tolerant to low temperatures, which explains its presence in the core of the Mediterranean region.