"Picking, sorting, pressing, crafting liquid gold by hand — an ancient, seasonal ritual."
The annual olive harvest is a timeless ritual, deeply rooted in tradition and in the very essence of community. When the colours of autumn move across the landscape of Sicarico — the ochre-brown dry earth, the silver-green trees glowing in the soft November light — we know the moment has come.
We pick the ripe olives by hand. It is work shared across generations, a task you don't rush but cherish. Your fingers learn quickly: a light pressure, a gentle twist, and the olive drops into your hand. All around you hear voices, laughter, and the familiar sounds of nets being rolled out and crates being filled.
The grove hums with activity. Neighbours and family come together, bearing witness as nature's harvest is brought in. Stories are passed on, jokes are made, coffee is shared from a flask in the cool morning air. The scent of ripe olives and damp earth hangs over the day like a soft veil.
Every olive picked represents more than a fruit. It embodies heritage — a labour of love and the promise of liquid gold. After sorting, when only the finest fruit is selected, the olives go to the mill that very same day for cold pressing. Hours later — the first drops of the new year.
That is the 2023 harvest. Small-scale, artisanal, from hand to bottle.
Frequently asked questions
When are olives harvested in Puglia?
In Puglia the olive harvest usually takes place between October and December, depending on the variety, the year and the desired level of ripeness. For olive oil with a high polyphenol content — and a lovely peppery bite — olives are harvested early, while they are still half green. Later in the season the olives become riper and milder in flavour, but yield more oil per kilo. We deliberately choose an early harvest.
What does a day of olive harvesting look like in practice?
A harvest day starts early — while it is still cool. Nets are laid out under the trees, and branches are carefully stripped or worked with small mechanical combs to make the olives fall. At Uliveto di Mede we harvest by hand, tree by tree. At the end of the day the crates are taken to the mill — the sooner the olives are pressed after picking, the fresher and purer the oil.
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