Carolea, Grossa di Gerace & Co. Cultivars
The presence of slopes cultivated with olive trees together with the rests of several olive presses along the watercourses are evidences of an ancient vocation of the whole territory of Calabria. Favored by the influence of the sea (perceptible also in areas far from the coast), the region is covered with several olive groves which transformed it in the second national oil reservoir after Apulia. However, this rich heritage is rarely transformed into quality oil. Most holdings practice an almost anachronistic olive growing: above all in the innermost areas, receptacles of rudimentary farming have been maintained, while along the coast a quality production exploiting working techniques that do not go without technological progress is beginning to gain ground in the mind (and in the products) of some valid olive growers. The long list of cultivars - local and allochthonous - that have well adapted to the climatic and soil features of Calabria include Coratina, Frantoio, Leccino, Nocellara del Belice, Nocellara Messinese, Carolea, Cassanese, Dolce di Rossano, Roggianella, Grossa di Gerace, Ottobratica, and Sinopolese. It is clear that from such an heterogeneous range of varieties it is only possible to obtain extra-virgin olive oils with very different organoleptic features, sometimes characterized by an intense fruity fragrance, other times marked by pleasant almond or hazelnut features.
