Gonnelli Frantoio di Santa Tea 1585 olive oil from Tuscany

Gonnelli Frantoio of Santa Tea 1585

The history of the Gonnelli family goes back to 1585 when, on 13th February, the brothers Francesco, Lorenzo and Giulio, the sons of Taddeo di Michele di Lorenzo, bought the farm of Santa for 300 coins from the brothers of the Carmine di Firenze Convent Tea, as proven in the sales document of the Notary Public in Florence. At that time, the oil mill of 1426 was known and appreciated for its special oil made from olives, which were made noble by the special microclimate of the sun-drenched plateau of Reggello, 400 meters above sea level, 30 minutes from Florence southern direction.
Since then, the Gonnelli family, brothers, children and grandchildren, who grew up in the shadow of the oil mill of Santa Tea, a monument to the hard work of yesterday and today, has become a true art with all the knowledge, wisdom and expertise in cultivation passed on by olives and their presses. The craftsmanship of the olive growers, developed at the time of the medieval guilds, still preserves the techniques and secrets of producing the finest oil. An art that comes from the best tradition of the oil mill, which was preserved in the museum and in the ongoing experimentation in innovation research, both in terms of production and cultivation.

Agriculture in the region

Today, Gonnelli directly oversees about 43,000 olive trees between Florence and Siena. The altitude, the sunshine and a well drained soil are important elements for the final quality of the oil, and Gonnelli considers these elements in the selection of his plants. We are increasingly seeing the abandonment of olive groves due to poor profit margins and high management costs, which are hard to sustain for pure hobby or passion; For this reason, certain olive groves rented by the Gonnelli Farm require greater drainage and care, and it often takes several years for the olive grove to become fertile.
All olive groves of the farm are managed in accordance with current organic farming rules without the use of pesticides of fertilizers.
The 43,000 olive plants cultivated and grown by the Piero Gonnelli farm are of different varieties, although all are typically Tuscan. Thanks to this diversity and the clever decision to collect the olives at different ripening times, starting with the greenest, different types of oils are obtained, which are distinguishable and differ in taste and aroma.

Gonnelli Frantoio di Santa Tea 1585 olive oil from Tuscany, Italy