4 Italian Resorts for Olive Oil Lovers
You can eat it, drink it and have it slathered on your body at the spa. Molto bene!
Olive oil tasting Isola delle Rosejpeg
When you visit a winery, you might see bottles of estate-made olive oil arranged on shelves next to the reds, whites and rosés. But what if you didn’t even need to leave your hotel to sample the luxurious rich flavor of artisanally-crafted extra virgin olive oil? These four stunning properties in Italy are situated amid olive groves whose fruit is used to make handcrafted oil that finds its way into your dish, your spa treatment and even your cocktail glass. Send for your things: you live here now.
Ancient olive tree photo courtesy of Palazzo di Varignana
A grove of restored and sustainable ancient olive trees is organically farmed on a 650-hectare estate that’s home to this 150-room luxury resort in the rolling hills of Emilia-Romagna. They’re used to produce five distinctive extra-virgin olive oils, including three mono cultivars: nostrana di Brisighella is delicate and balanced with notes of artichoke and almond, the medium intensity ghiacciola has vegetal notes of green tomato and herbs and correggiolo is intense and fruity with a spicy finish of green apple and chicory. The resort also crafts two blends: Cru Varignano and Cru Riva.
Finishing oil photo courtesy of Palazzo di Varignana
Guests can immerse themselves with an olive oil tasting in the cellar of the Agrivar agricultural estate, paired with a selection of local gourmet products including tomato-topped bruschetta. Treatments at Varsana Spa include a ritual where the body is brushed with olive oil then massaged with an olive oil-based moisturizing emulsion. Of course, EVOO is on the menu at the resort’s five restaurants in dishes like saffron risotto-style fregola with red shrimp in four textures; frozen oil spheres are added to the bisque-like sauce to help emulsify the pasta.
Verde blend oil photo courtesy of Palazzo di Varignana
You can even drink it in specialty cocktails like a Four Roses Bourbon Old Fashioned or the Gin Soil with savory Gin Mare from Spain, both of which have a splash of Palazzo Varignana EVOO to round out the spirit’s aromas. “Palazzo di Varignana celebrates the heritage of the Italian lifestyle,” says general manager Vittorio Morelli. “Beauty, history and taste come together to give new life to the concept of Italian dolce vita.”
View of church and olive groves Olive grove photo courtesy of JW Marriott Venice Resort & SPA
Venice is always romantic. But when your resort is located on a private island with a culinary garden that’s inspired by the hotel founder’s wife’s passion for horticulture, the experience becomes magical. At the 266-room resort, situated on Isola Delle Rose, the youngest island in the Venice lagoon, more than a hundred olive trees make up part of the garden that channels Alice Marriott. In 2016, this island oasis made an agreement with local producers to craft olive oil for the annual fall harvest and production, and they’ve been making it ever since. The microclimate and unique mineral-rich soil imparts a distinctive flavor to the olive as well as to all the produce they grow, from tomatoes to herbs.
Olive grove photo courtesy of JW Marriott Venice Resort & SPA
Guests can stroll through the rows of trees, herbs and fruits, and engage in various culinary activities harvesting produce and cooking alongside resort chefs at the popular masterclasses at the resort’s Sapori Cooking Academy. There, the oil is used for Venetian cicchetti, the small snacks served during late-afternoon aperitivo hour in Venice. Staff at their restaurant Agli Amici Dopolavoro use the rich, flavorful olive oil to cook with and garnish plates on the prix fixe tasting menu, like sole with Orsino garlic and sprouts, king prawns with garden flowers and radicchio with yogurt. Lucky guests are sometimes gifted small bottles to take home as a sweet memory. “Our small batch olive oil is unique in Venice—it’s the gift that keeps giving in a sustainable and thoughtful way for generations to come,” says food and beverage director Giorgio Schifferegger.
Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria
In the dreamy coastal town of Sorrento, perched above the Bay of Naples, lies this 79-room hotel. Founded in 1834 by the Fiorentino family, the cliffside property has hosted everyone from Princess Margaret to Marilyn Monroe to Sophia Loren. Passing under the ornate metal arch signifying the property’s name takes you to a centuries-old citrus garden (Sorrento is, after all, the gateway to the Amalfi Coast, legendary for the fragrant lemon trees that cling to the hilly landscape.)
Gardens at Garnd Hotel Excelsior Vittoria
But the fifth-generation family-run hotel is also home to a grove of olive trees in the 20,000-square-meter garden, harvested to produce its own Caporiva extra virgin olive oil and available for purchase on their online boutique. It’s also used in dishes at their three restaurants, drizzled over gnocchi with tomato, basil, mozzarella and parmesan at the Michelin-starred Terrazza Bosquet and Margherita pizza at L’Orangerie.
You can even order a Caporiva cocktail at Bar Vittoria, which shakes local olive oil-infused gin witih bergamot liqueur and lemon juice, served up and garnished with (what else?) a skewered olive. The oil produced by the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria is so popular that guests have been known to ask to purchase the entire vintage.
Rocco Forte Private Villas Verdura Resort - Villa Smeraldo
In 2014, this five-star, 203-room resort on the Sicilian coastline launched the 230-hectare Verdura Organic Farm as a way to show their connection to their location and share experiences with guests authentically. In addition to the many vegetables and herbs, there are a wide variety of fruit trees, including 50 lemon, 120 pomegranate, 150 prickly pear, 150 almond, 3,703 orange—and 3,047 olive.
Olive trees photo courtesy of Verdura Resort
Their olive oil is a blend of Sicilian varieties cerasuola, biancolilla and nocellara that are handpicked and cold-pressed just a few hours later, which retains its intense bright green color and aromas of orange blossom, artichoke, mint and basil. The oil has been so well-received that it’s not only used in the restaurants at this resort, but in the kitchens at all of the Rocco Forte Hotels group.
Olves photo courtesy of Verdura Resort
Guests will find it in signature dishes like caponata Siciliana, fresh busiate pasta with shrimp and pistachios and guazzetto, a Southern-Italian tomato sauce cooked with mussels, clams, prawns and sea bass. They can also cook with the oil and the olives during seasonally-focused cooking classes. And if you ask your bartender at Granita to indulge you, they can garnish your Terre del Sud, a savory cocktail with gin, rosemary-infused vermouth, caper syrup and lemon juice, with a few drops of their liquid gold.