On the Riviera dei Fiori, October is the month when the olive harvest begins. Olive growing has always been one of the main economic activities in this area.

From the coast to the inland areas, the silvery reflections of the olive leaves swaying in the sea breeze can be admired almost everywhere. Now that the colours have become more vivid after the first autumn storms, venturing inland is a spectacle for all the senses. You climb up winding, narrow roads, surrounded by dry stone walls and “fasce”, the name given to the terraces with which the Ligurians have transformed steep slopes into cultivable areas overlooking the sea.

That’s why we have created an offer that allows you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of autumn in Liguria and enjoy all its flavours.

We also offer the opportunity to book a visit to an oil mill and be accompanied through the terraces among thousand-year-old olive trees to admire their beauty, observe the harvest and then taste the new oil that comes out of the pressing plant together with all the exquisite products that the Antico Frantoio Saguato produces.

The oil mill is located in a very old building, dating back to 1500, which was first a convent and olive processing facility, then a barracks, and then an oil mill again. Since 1916, it has been owned by the Saguato family, who for four generations have been passionately dedicated to the cultivation of olive trees and the production of oil and olive-based preserves.

The visit begins with a short tour of the pressing plant, followed by the storage rooms, some of which are very old, semi-underground and protected by large 16th-century walls that maintain a constant temperature and humidity.

The company minibus then takes visitors to the terraces where they can admire the oldest olive trees, wonderful plants that are still productive, and the younger plants, which have begun to bear their first fruits, and the dry stone walls, some of which have been preserved and rebuilt. The art of building these typical walls has been included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Looking at them, one can almost perceive centuries of heroic efforts to obtain nourishment and sustenance from this land. Stones fitted together without cement to form cultivable terraces that have withstood the test of time.

After the tours and discoveries, after admiring the landscape of olive trees and Mediterranean vegetation sloping down towards the sea, we return to the large old house where, on the terrace, a banquet of delicacies is laid out, all based on olives, strictly “Taggiasche”, apart from the wine, a new addition of the farm, to be tasted!

Do you know how to taste oil? There is a very simple technique that the young owner teaches her guests, which allows them to perceive the bitterness and spiciness and understand the difference between filtered and unfiltered oil, between extra virgin olive oil and olive oil.

There is also much to learn about the organoleptic and nutritional properties of this precious “liquid gold” that is Taggiasca extra virgin olive oil.
An opportunity not to be missed!

Book your autumn break to recharge your batteries and discover the hidden beauties of this ‘graceful land’ where ‘the olive tree is giant’ and where ‘on certain days, the sea is a flower garden’ (V. Cardarelli).