The use of Olivastra Saggianese’s fruits has been influencing the lifestyle of native people since ancient times. There are testimonies dating back to Middle Ages and to the Etruscan civilization that confirm people already knew some of the beneficial properties of this product, which was used as a healing ointment for irritation or other injuries. This precious product was never used as a cooking ingredient, only as a body oil, for lightening lamps, or in trade. Only beginning from the Late Middle Ages, it started to be used as a seasoning for foods.
Plants of this cultivar can reach big dimensions and are distinguished by fruit-bearing, hanging branches.
Rustic plant, very resistant to low temperatures.
Olivastra Seggianese cultivar is resistant to Winter low temperatures, this is why it was possible to grow it even in ancient times. Native plants grow among 450 and 650 m above sea level, on the slops of Monte Amiata.Olivastra Saggianese’s trees are big-sized, they have a majestic foliage with a high vegetative vigour, and are still today cultivated in the traditional way, small olives with big stones and a high oil yield.
This variety is exclusive of this area of Southern Tuscany, and it’s for the very climate, soil and sun exposure that it produces one of the best oils on the marketplace. Thanks to its exceptional ability to adapt, apart from being itself a rustic plant, Olivastra Saggianese can perfectly adapt to climate and altitude, and one can get an oil from it with chemical and organoleptic features unique and different from any other Tuscan or Italian oil.
In fact, based on the degree on ripening of the olives, one can get an intensely fruity oil or an oil with a medium-high fruitiness.