Can anyone tell me the name and location of an olive oil grove that offers tours in Tuscany? We will have a car. We just want to go there on our own, not through a tour company.
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Los Angeles, CA, USA
1003 posts
hi Amy, Two Octobers ago (right at the beginning of the harvest), i found by chance and was able to arrange a little tour of the operation with this frantoio http://www.pruneti.it/ in Chianti. It was wonderful. At the time they had just moved into a new facility and were preparing to have a tour/tasting room so it may be up and running by now but it was great. It was the owning family and us and they welcomed us like family too. They had just pressed a couple different kinds of oil the night before and let us taste them and purchase (at a very very cheap price) some oil that he packed for us by hand in cans. I actually just used it up and it was absolutely fantastic oil. He (the young man in the right on the photo on the website, actually) met us in town, guided us to the facility, then showed us the pressing operation, storage rooms, etc. I'm sure if you wanted to see the groves themselves, they would do it, they were so nice. I assume they're nearby somewhere as that whole area is dotted with groves. That said, I've been in olive groves in both Tuscany and Puglia and I can't say they're that interesting. It is the pressing that's fascinating to me! and if you are not there during the harvest, the machinery isn't all that interesting either lol! Anyway if your trip will take you into northern Chianti I would contact them. San Polo itself seemed very small without a whole lot to do but it was worth the stop for the frantoio visit. have fun!