Olive Harvest, Truffle Hunt and Wine Tasting

This week is just right for you if you are interested in high-quality olive oil and the olive harvest but would also like to learn more about other culinary specialties of Umbria, such as truffles or fine wines.

What can you expect this week?

Saturday
Upon arrival a typical Umbrian dinner awaits you, served with Mediterranean temperament by our cook, Mamma Ornella.

Sunday to Tuesday
At an introductory lecture and olive oil tasting on Sunday morning, you will learn all you need to know about olive oil and the olive harvest.
Then the practical work begins. You will take part in the olive harvest over two days.

Then you can accompany us to the oil mill and watch how the olives you have picked are processed into first-class organic olive oil, from the weighing of the olives to the bottling of the fresh, fragrant oil.

Wednesday
You will visit a small but fine organic winemaker whose wines have won many awards and which you will, of course, also taste. There will also be a tasting of typical cured meats, the "Norcineria", named after the Umbrian town of Norcia, which is famous for prosciutto and salami.

Thursday
You will accompany a truffle hunter with his dog on a truffle hunt and will help to carefully dig up the precious truffles from the ground. Afterwards you will be spoiled with a multi-course menu with truffle delicacies.

After the truffle meal we will visit one of the last small traditional producers of Vin Santo, the sweet wine typical of central Italy.
You will learn how this wine has been produced in a traditional way for hundreds of years, what gives it its very special nuanced taste and what legends are associated with its name.

Friday
The day is free for excursions in the area rich in attractions on the border between Umbria and Tuscany.
Here you can visit many of the ancient Etruscan cities, such as Perugia, Cortona, Montepulciano, Città della Pieve and countless others, or just enjoy the scenic countryside.

In the evening we have the olive picker's dinner as a farewell. Of course, you will also receive your picker's share of the olive oil you have picked.

Saturday
Departure

About the olive harvest

Picking is done in small groups of 3-5 people. You can participate in the harvest as much or as little as you like.

Please remember that picking olives is physically demanding work. You often have to climb ladders or trees.

Picking olives in La Rogaia is not meant to be piecework, but rather simply fun and enabling a relaxing, almost meditative contact with nature.

Therefore we only pick our olives manually, not with machines. The amount of olives picked in one day is correspondingly lower, but the trees and the ears and nerves of the pickers are spared.
On Tuesday afternoon we will bring the olives to a small oil mill where the oil is pressed and bottled.

Half of the olives you pick are yours, so you can take the oil home with you.

Depending on the weather during the picking week and on how diligently you pick, this can be between 1 and a maximum of 10 litres per person.