Our Products
Il Paluffo is surrounded by 6 hectares of olive trees, vineyards and woods that we organically cultivate with passion and love.
We prune the olive trees by hand every year, one by one, studying the characteristics of each tree, its age, it’s bearing. Each plant has a story to tell, and it’s up to us to listen and act for its well-being and, so enhance its productivity. In winter, we fertilize the olive grove with organic manure; in spring, we prune the trees. In early summer, we clean the field from too exuberant weeds, and we monitor the fly pressure that could compromise the olive quality and even the harvest.
To contain the fly, we use natural repellents or pheromone traps. In October, the olive harvest is made by hand with small vibrating combs that make the olives fall on the nets. Immediately, cleaned of leaves and twigs, the olives are collected in crates and, within three hours, brought to the mill. Immediate pressing is essential to obtain the highest quality in terms of aromas and richness of taste of the oil. The olives are washed in fresh water and smashed into tiny pieces. The oil is separated from the water and the seeds by centrifugation. The oil is then filtered to eliminate the particulate still present and is ready for our table; it has a magnificent bright green color that gradually turns to gold yellow. To maintain the highest quality, we store the oil in steel containers in an oxygen-free atmosphere to preserve aromas and scents for years.
Unlike the wine that can be processed and improved in the cellar with barrels and aging, the EVO quality oil is at its maximum expression of quality. It must be bottled at once when it comes out of the mill. For us who believe in the quality and in the nutritional and nutraceutical values of EVO oil, there are no processes, blending of different vintages or “tricks”: the oil is made in the field, following the plants, studying the best time for the harvesting and taking care of the pressing!
the morning sun
The hives are inside a cypress grove, well shaded in summer and heated by the winter sun for bees’ comfort. The bees work incessantly in every season; they look for some flowers to visit; when the temperature is close to zero Celsius, the harvest stops. In the late spring-early summer, we have the peak of production with acacia’s flowering. Throughout the year, we have rosemary, dandelion, ivy, borage, strawberry tree, and many other spontaneous Tuscan essences that enrich our honey aroma.
Sangiovese and Trebbiano with a little Malvasia make up our vineyard, one-hectare large. The plants have different ages, from 4 to 40 years. The soil has a clay texture with Pliocene fossils and is kept grassy; we limit the treatments and mechanical workings not to compromise natural fertility. Cultivation strictly follows the biological protocol. At the end of winter, we prune, then the shoots are tied, and since the plants sprout in March -April, we pay great attention to preventing the onset of diseases such as downy mildew and powdery mildew. We use only a little copper and sulfur allowed in the biological regime in association with propolis and vegetable foliar fertilizers to strengthen plants’ immune defenses. In May – June, we clear the grapes from the leaves that can hinder their harmonious development; from the end of August, the countdown for the harvest begins, made up of tastings, measurements of the sugar content and consultation of the weather. We harvest by hand, selecting the best bunches and pressing them immediately.
When the must, the pressed grapes, is the vats, the anxious wait for fermentation starts and lasts a couple of days. Every day, four times a day, we gently mix the must by hand. So, the skins are in contact with the liquid part and release the perfumes and aroma that make the wine’s distinctive character. At the end of fermentation, after 7-10 days, the wine, that has already developed the alcohol, passes into steel containers to settle the yeasts that still cloud it. After 3-4 cleaning decanting and a few months, the Sangiovese is transferred to oak barrels to refine and there it rests for at least a year. The passage of aging in the cask has the purpose of micro-oxygenating the wine and making it softer on the palate. We use only small barrels of 224 liters of second and third passage that leave Sangiovese’s typical scents unaltered without introducing aromatic notes specific to the wood.
The Trebbiano two months after the harvest is bottled by adding a small amount of its must from the Trebbiano grapes left to dry on the reeds. The sugar in the must stimulate a new fermentation in the bottle, and thus a sparkling wine is born, rich in aromas and structure. We call it "ancestral" because it is the progenitor of sparkling wine.
– Maria Liana Stiavelli, Founder and Owner
Our bubbles
Our ancestral sparkling wine comes from the traditional and ancient system of producing bubbles. The starting wine is our Trebbiano, which after alcoholic fermentation, rests for a few weeks in steel barrels without further treatment to eliminate the lees. In November, we bottle it by adding a small quantity of must to the wine, also obtained from Trebbiano grapes, which were seasoned for two months. Thus the sugars and natural yeasts of the must restart fermentation in the bottle, creating a new sparkling wine. The ancestral then remains to refine in the bottle for at least a year; its life is very long and can be served even after several years. The color is pink, slightly cloudy. It has a pleasant, non-aggressive foam. It has a bouquet of bread crust and berries. It is an easy to drink dry wine, slightly sparkling, in which the flavor and minerality conferred by the Pliocene lands of Paluffo stand out. Ideal as an aperitif and to accompany sausages, vegetarian dishes and fish but also cold cuts and cheeses.
accomodation
Do you want to stay at the Paluffo?
The villa is now a bed and breakfast with four exclusive double bedrooms and private bathrooms.
