WELCOME TO OLIO DE NARDI
Welcome to Olio De Nardi! We are a family-owned and operated organic farm located in the charming town of Winters, CA. We focus on growing Italian olive varietals for the production of hand-crafted extra virgin olive oil and organic olive oil soap.
The OrchardOur olive orchard sits on 5.5 acres outside of Winters, in Northern California, just West of Sacramento and about 1 hour East of San Francisco. Our first planting was in 2004. We probably lost 50% of the trees due to deer, ground squirrels, lack of water, and basic farming negligence. Over the next 10 years, we replanted, and expanded the orchard to our current ~400 trees, comprised mainly of the classic Tuscan varietals Frantoio, Maurino and Leccino. And in 2020 we added small lots of Itrana and Taggiasca varietals.
We farm organically, in the sense that we don't till or disturb the soil, nurturing our trees like they're our own children. We don't use any chemicals or herbicides in the orchard. In the Winter we grow cover crop (vetch, flax) for soil enrichment, and then mow it in the Spring. We use a combination of drip irrigation and micro sprinklers for watering efficiency, and push mowing and old-fashioned hand hoeing for weed abatement. The steep hillside slopes require the trees to be topped so ladders aren't required at harvest time. During October, the fruit is mostly hand-picked using nets, finger rakes and shoulder baskets, sorted for quality control, and brought to a nearby mill for processing. The oil gets filtered at the mill, stored in stainless steel vats and bottled on demand. Before any oil is sold, it is sent to a certified lab for extra virgin olive oil testing. [Test results can be found in the FAQ section]. |
THE DE NARDI STORYThe story begins in 1993, when Sofie arrived in the US (Silicon Valley) via Denmark and Australia to pursue her business dreams. Michael and Sofie met as co-workers at Claris Corp., where they happened to work two cubicles down the hallway. As fate would have it, they married a year later.
Shortly after the arrival of their first daughter, Mia, a combination of restlessness and spontaneity set in and they sought a change, deciding to pack up and move to the hilltop town of Cortona, in the heart of Tuscany. We like to think we were millenials before millenials ;-) Michael brought his bicycle and rode throughout Tuscany and Umbria, followed the Giro d'Italia and local races, drank espresso from every bar near and far, and, miraculously, improved upon his Italian... |