THE OIL

What's in the bottle

Sornanino is an early-harvest, single-estate extra virgin olive oil from Castellina-in-Chianti, in the heart of Tuscany. We press once a year, in October, from 430 trees on one hillside. That's all there is.

Early harvesting — picking while the olives are still green, weeks before most producers begin — gives the oil its defining character: vivid colour, intense flavour, and a high concentration of polyphenols. It also produces significantly less oil per tree. We harvest early because the result is better, not because it's easier.

Flavour

This is not a mild, neutral cooking oil.

Sornanino is grassy, herbaceous and artichoke-forward, with a long peppery finish and what our judges have called "an inviting warmth underneath which endures well." The colour is a deep, bright green-gold. The texture is full and viscous — it coats the palate generously.

The peppery bite — what Italians call pizzico — is the quality signal. It indicates a high polyphenol content, and it's what serious olive oil lovers look for.

Each harvest has its own character. The October 2024 oil is punchy and classic — grassy, woody, peppery, with a bitter finish that one panel of Great Taste judges found it divided opinion, while the same oil scored 96/100 and won Platinum at the Berlin Global Olive Oil Awards. Sornanino is not for everyone. For those it is for, nothing else quite compares.

The October 2025 oil is a little softer and sweeter, with a fruity apple note alongside the familiar herbaceous depth — a hallmark, we're told, of polyphenol abundance.

What the judges said

Great Taste 2024 ⭐ (October 2023 harvest)

"A spicy, lively, in-your-face olive oil — not a product that is backward in coming forward. Great colour, a bright peppery taste and a strong, bitter, long aftertaste."

"Grassy on the nose, this deeply green EVOO has a buttery mouthfeel and pleasing peppery finish. A young oil with a good amount of character."

"A pleasing green colour. Powerful flavour and peppery finish. It coats the mouth equally and generously. A full-flavoured oil, with bite."

Great Taste 2025 ⭐ (October 2024 harvest)

"Bright green-gold in the glass. Slightly grassy nose with pepper on the finish. High viscosity in the glass and on the palate. Clean, punchy flavour with an appealing woodiness as well as grass and pepper. Clean peppery finish."

"A characterful oil with penetrating notes and a variety of different beautiful bitter and herbal elements making themselves known. There's an inviting warmth underneath which endures well."

Berlin Global Olive Oil Awards 2025 🏅 Platinum — 96/100 (October 2024 harvest)

Tasting profile: chilli pimento · ripe banana · almond green · black pepper · cinnamon

"Grassy, herbal and artichoke-forward, with a bright and peppery character driven by a high concentration of polyphenols. Spicy, fruity and bitter, with a long, peppery finish."

Ranked #2 in Italy · #14 globally — Elite Olive Oils Global EVOO Rankings

Polyphenols — why they matter

The pepperiness in Sornanino is not incidental. It is the taste of polyphenols — powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatories found in highest concentration in early-harvest extra virgin olive oil.

Polyphenols support cardiovascular health, blood sugar regulation, skin, gut and cognitive function. They also give the oil a longer shelf life than most commercial alternatives.

You can taste them. That's the point.

How to use it

Sornanino is a finishing oil — drizzle it.

Use it generously over bruschetta, warm soups, roasted vegetables, grilled fish and meat, burrata, white beans, salads. Or simply with warm bread and good sea salt.

A little transforms a dish. More than a little is even better.

Cold extraction · Filtered · Single estate

Every stage of production is designed to protect what the grove produces. The olives are hand-picked in October, transported directly to our local Chianti mill, and cold-extracted in the absence of oxygen — preserving freshness, flavour and polyphenol content.

The oil is filtered to retain its peppery bite over time and reduce sediment. Occasionally a small quantity of unfiltered olio nuovo is available — ask if you're interested.

Nothing added. Nothing blended. One hillside, one pressing, one oil.

"It was always the best. We were just lucky to know about it." — Penny, long-standing customer, May 2026

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