OUR VALUES
We believe in a profound respect for Mother Nature and the use of organic and biodynamic farming practices. Our love for the land, our enthusiasm and our passion, leads us to give a spiritual value to what we produce. The landscape with its olive growing heritage, its tradition, its culture and its people, are what is driving us to do better and better.
THE LANDSCAPE
Colle Stelle is located in the municipality of Loreto Aprutino in the Province of Pescara close to the borders of the municipality of Penne. At the time of the Kingdom of the Two Sicily and after 1861 with the unification of Italy, Colle Stelle was part of the estates of the local aristocracy, whose lands extended from what is now the Province of Pescara to the northern part of today\’s Abruzzo.
The farm embraces a hill called Colle Stella which inspired its name. Looking towards the South, are catching the eye the Historic Center of Loreto Aprutino and the Chiola Castle with the background of the The Maiella peak. To the West, the peaks of The Gran Sasso Mountain Range, whose slopes are covered with thousand years old forests, form a breathtaking view. From the top of Colle Stella, to the East, the panorama extends over the Adriatic Sea with a view of few medieval towns on top of the surrounding hills.
The farmhouse, located in the center of the estate, where Colle Stelle is hosted and where the owners Davide and Domenica are living, is surrounded mostly by century-old olive trees, a wood where a centenarian majestic oak tree is dominant and by the young vineyard. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, the house was home of the sharecropping family who cultivated this part of the aristocracy estates. Skillfully restored, it keeps intact all the original characters of the time as evidence of the rural architecture of the past.
THE FARM
Colle Stelle was born in June 2016 from the dream of Davide and Domenica and it is located in the middle of a region that has longstanding great tradition on extra virgin olive oil production and more recently on excellent wineries. Loreto Aprutino, together with the municipalities of Moscufo and Pianella, is part of the so-called Pescara Province Golden Triangle of the Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
The estate includes 15 hectares of hilly land, of which 5 are home to around 1,000 olive trees between 70 and 150 years old and 1.5 hectares home of a vineyard. In the olive grow, the most important cultivar are Dritta di Loreto, native to the area, and Leccino. To some extent, there are also trees of the Frantoio, Intosso and Pendolino cultivar. The vineyard, planted in January 2020, consists, of two native vines, Montepulciano d\’Abruzzo and Pecorino. Scattered around the property there are several local varieties of fig, almond, cherry and pear trees.
The farm has been undergoing organic conversion process from 2017 with CCPB as Certification Board Panel and is part of the Aprutino Pescarese Protected Designation Origin Olive Groves List.
Davide and Domenica personally follow each step of the entire agricultural and production practices together with two agronomists specialized respectively in organic olive and viticulture farming and young local farmers.
The olive season begins by the end of the Winter, with a tailored pruning and fertilization of the trees. At the beginning of the Summer, to protect the olives from the olive fruit fly, the trees are sprayed with a mixture of water and kaolin, a white clay. The pure white layer covering leaves and fruits, prevent the fly to detect the olives and damage them. Furthermore, during the hottest and driest periods of the Summer, the kaolin helps to limit the water evaporation from the olive trees reducing drought stress phenomena.
Harvest is carried out between the end of September and middle of November, at the most appropriate moment, according to the cultivar and the degree of ripeness of the olives. Non-invasive mechanical equipment are used to avoid any damage to the trees and their fruits. Most of the cultivar Dritta di Loreto olives are kept separate from the rest of the harvest to make the corresponding monovarietal extra virgin olive oil.
Within very few hours after being harvested, the olives are taken to the award-winning Frantoio Oleario Claudio di Mercurio in Penne. The extra virgin olive oil is extracted under the supervision of the master oil miller, using the cold and continuous cycle method to enhance all its peculiar flavor and aroma. Davide and Domenica personally supervise this delicate production phase which requires dedicated attention.
After being extracted, the extra virgin olive oil is immediately filtered and stored in steel tanks with a controlled oxygen free environment to prevent oxidation, premature aging and rancidity degradation that would compromise its high quality and flavor.
The young vineyard requires as well constant and continuous dedication. As the new shoots are growing, they are selected and secured to the catch wires making them to develop healthy and strong to achieve an excellent grape production.
Mother Nature provides what is needed for the growth of a luxurious and healthy vineyard. Neem oil and potassic soap solutions prevents fungi and parasites damages. Infusions made from nettle and horsetail, herbs that are abundant at the farm, together with biodynamic portions, provide the energy needed to boost the vines immune system. These agricultural techniques will contribute to create a unique terroir, enhance it and produce wines of great quality.
Colle Stelle is also planning the construction of its own cellar where to refine and age the wines created from the grapes of its own vineyard.
You can follow us on our social pages by using the links in the CONTACT page of our website. Through them you will be constantly updated about what happens at the farm.