The story begins in 2013...
Varieties of olive trees from Tuscany have taken up residence on Sardinian soil, in the middle of a blue Mediterranean sea.
It was a crazy idea on the part of Olivier, who is passionate about olive trees and the weighty, beautiful stories that have sheltered the greatest philosophers, who have written and rested under this tree that has been wounded by life and time, but which resists against all odds.
This mythical, mysterious and fascinating tree has always been associated with wisdom and knowledge. It is said that Plato loved to debate with his disciples under its shade, and that he owned an olive grove that he dedicated to the goddess of wisdom Athena.
Many of the world’s greatest philosophers were also close to this tree, from near and far:
- Aristote is said to have taught his students in a peripaton, a path shaded by olive trees near Athens.
- Platon liked to walk in the gardens of the Academy of Athens, surrounded by olive trees.
Épicure founded his school of philosophy in the “Garden of Epicurus”, a peaceful spot with olive trees. - Marc Aurèle, Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, loved to meditate in nature, even under the olive trees of his villa in Lanuvium.
So much history and so many stories make the olive tree an atypical tree. A symbol of peace, strength and longevity, the olive tree continues to inspire and shape the imagination, even today.
With the history of Sardinia’s nuraghes dating back to 1800 BC, Sasa Oliviers is a true blend of ancient and modern lands.
Sardinia: a journey back in time through olive groves and ancient ruins
A land with a rich historical past, Sardinia is home to numerous remains from the Bronze and Iron Ages. Nuraghic civilization, unique to Sardinia, owes its name to the nuraghes, little-known but emblematic towers that still mark the island’s landscape.
Today, the olive trees lining the ruins have begun to bear fruit. The Sant’Antonio Di Gallura olive grove is now home to 9,600 Tuscan olive trees and a few oleaster specimens over 1,200 years old.
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Varieties from the Sant'Antonio Di Gallura olive grove (SASA)
The Tuscan varieties: Leccino, Frantoio, Leccio del Corno, Maurino and Pendolino shave acclimatized to this Sardinian terroir, swept by Mediterranean winds and sharing the land with wild aromatic plants such as Italian immortelle (Helichrysum italicum), myrtle, wild lavender, wild thyme and many others…
Planting is done by hand, and an irrigation system has been created to give the olive trees the optimum amount of water they need to give us a beautiful, fleshy olive to make the best olive oil.
All this on the shores of the lake, Lago Liscia, which gives this land an air of paradise as far as the eye can see.
Mill installation: 2021
We decided to install a mill on the property to monitor the extraction process, which is cold-pressed in order to produce cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil.
Daniel, who is working with me on this project, is passionate about these trees. He is present 365 days a year on the plantation to give the trees all the care they need.
He is also present at the mill to see the results of his twelve months’ work, and to produce an oil that perfumes our mill and is ready to perfume and enhance your salads and other dishes.
We invite you to taste our oils. If you feel like it, you can come and visit the plantation and discover this tree, a symbol of peace, hope and resilience.
Caring for olive trees
The trees are maintained by hand. We use little mechanization to preserve the oil’s gentleness and encourage it to flourish in a natural setting.
The plantation is ORGANIC. It’s an approach we’ve come to rely on because, in this unspoilt environment, it’s impossible not to work in harmony with nature, which is very grateful to us.
Nature surrounds our olive trees. We only prune weeds once or twice a year, leaving them in place to create a protective mulch for the soil. This also preserves humidity and encourages the development of micro-organisms present underground, precious allies for planting.
No chemical fertilizers are used on the fields, only organic and biological ones. Our aim is to offer consumers a healthy, environmentally-friendly product.
All the love and care we put into our olive trees goes into our oils.
The olives are harvested by hand and pressed within 3 hours of picking. Cold pressing is carried out quickly, followed by filtering and a 30-day resting period for natural decanting.
Our oil is extra virgin, first cold-pressed.
