Frantoio Pruneti is an olive oil mill located in San Polo in the Chianti region of Tuscany. They incorporate the entire process from the beginning of collecting olives, through processing, storing, putting the oil in bottles, and also distribution. The olive mill is a 197-acre farm that has been in the Pruneti family for over 160 years.
An interesting history story in regards to the farm is that the Chianti region of Tuscany contains traces of both Estrucan and Roman activity in regards to wine production. The relevance to the olive mill is that the trees are located in Greve in Chianti. This is a specific region in Chianti, located in Tuscany, which is where the original Frantoio Pruneti tended olive groves, which is where the relevance of this story comes from. This unclaimed area of Chianti was unclaimed with Florence and Sienna fighting over who should be over this region. This was the land where the olive trees were. The two cities decided to hold a horse back competition between a knight from each of the competing areas. Each knight would ride from his homeland at dawn. During this era, the rooster of the town crowing marked dawn and the beginning of each day. The people of Florence didn’t feed their crow hours before the race. He crowed early so the knight began hours earlier than the knight from Tuscany. This knight won claiming this area for Florence, which is why the olive oil mill is declared as being in Florence.
The Frantoio Pruneti olive mill has olive trees that date back to the mid 1800’s, and has been passed down through a long line of Pruneti’s. Since 1975 when they began claiming the entire process through the actual bottling, their business has only increased making this area a top attraction for those interested in olive oil. They received a silver award this year, and have received gold the prior three years according to the list of the World’s Best Olive Oils. These oils are heavily spiced and have been named by critics to be immaculate. Today we have the unique opportunity to taste the olive oils and learn more about their successful business.
http://www.pruenti.it/en/