Our “Extra-Virgin” olive oil that we produce from our own trees is pressed by the local Limone mill which has an ancient tradition and the olives are cold pressed on a stone. Our hotels Riviera, Serena, Mignon, Rodos are surrounded by 8,000 sq.m. of terrain on different levels and well positioned for the maximum benefit of the sun. We cultivate a total of 250 trees, including the Leccino, Casaliva and Frontoio varieties. The oil is renowned for its high value of polyunsaturated fats and considered to be of the best quality and of certified and protected origin. Our olives are hand picked by Livio, Mario, Carlo and Marco Rodella. The oil is valued for its recognised genuine and antioxidant qualities, particularly if used cold on vegetables it has a fruity mild taste. It is considered one of the best olive oils in the world. Being cultivated is such a northern area as is the northern part of the lake Garda, in northern Italy, it is a guarantee for its good quality as it gets finer, fluidal and delicate in taste. The gravelly soil that allows the water to drain, provides the roots with the ideal humidity. Although the olive groves belong to different owners the aspect of it presents a uniform and compact whole. Also the ability of the farmers to cultivate it has been transferred from one generation to the other. The most diffused kind is the ‘Casaliva’ which requires a special kind of treatment in the style of pruning and the art of cultivation of the soil. The tree requires regular but not radical pruning and frequent manuring. The geographical aspect and the system of production are the aspects that allow a good quality. For example the olives are pressed within 1 week of its picking, they go through a stone press that presses the fruit by dividing the kernel and keeping the temperature under 27°C and filtering it with a cotton system that allows the oil to keep its quality. Limone follows a biological organic system of control of the white fly that damages the fruit and lets it fall before being ripe. The first trees on Lake Garda can be dated back to the pale-lake dwelling time, some leaves have been found in fact in the lake dwelling by Pacengo on the venetian side of the lake. In the Roman villa of Catullo in Sirmione, the trees of the olive appear on paintings of the I century AC.. An olive press dated back to the Romans has been found in Malcesine with some coins, apparently belonging to the Massenzio Epoch (300 AC.). Then after the VIIIth century the presence of the tree becomes recurrent. Lake Garda olive oil was present in Venice in its markets around 1300 and via the harbour of Desenzano it reached all the near provinces.
The first mention of the immense amount of Limone’s olive trees are from the writer SILVAN CATTANEO in 1553. As Tullio Ferro in his book Olive Trees from Lake Garda writes by quoting Cattaneo: “We passed by a beautiful little piece of land that positioned like a semitheater in a corner between the mountain and the lake in a location called Limone, it is such a special place to be reached only via water and is surrounded by a huge amount of olive trees full with olives and thick with branches, and although the place is difficult to reach nature has certainly donated this place with something special which is olive oil…” (pag 94).
Documents dating back to the half of the XIX° century mention how in Limone there used to be 8 paires of oxen for the ploughing, 20 cows, 200 sheep, 30 goats and 20 horses. All sorts of animals, ideal for difficult mountain paths and a supply of manure.
