Alfredo Cetrone

PRODUCTS

A STORY OF PASSION

Itrana in the heart . Since 1860 my family has been dedicated to the cultivation of the olive tree and has always sought the best possible quality. About 100 hectares with 20,000 secular trees make up our heritage of "Monocultivar Itrana" olive trees. We have always cultivated it with love, passion and natural traditional methods, always looking for the right balance with the wonderful nature that surrounds us. Luckily for me I had a great teacher, my father Giulio, who handed down all his knowledgeable experience to me. First of all the good agricultural practices and the methods of cultivation of the olive trees, his profound knowledge of oil and, above all, the art for the production of Gaeta table olives, a great family tradition.

I grew up among the olive trees, spending hours and hours observing these wonderful plants, attracted by the magnetic charm that they manage to exert on me, then as now. Or in the oil mill, surprised by how the same type of olives, harvested at different times or from olive groves located at various altitudes, could give us different oils from each other in terms of intensity, aromas and flavours.

And this is how, when I took over the family business in the 90s, I already had a dream that soon became a challenge: to produce an oil of excellence with Itrana, like never before. I understood that Itrana oil had still unexplored potential. I wanted to let the world know the inimitable qualities of this oil in its maximum expression. I therefore decided to specialize the company in olive growing only, directing all energy and attention to the cultivation of the olive tree. Today all the particularly suitable lands have become olive groves and have taken the place of the other crops previously present. In 2011 and 2017 I created 2 new olive groves using innovative approaches and planting only plants reproduced from millennial Itrana clones, carefully selected after years and years of research. I brought forward and quite a bit the moment of the collection. I organized everything to get the olives to the mill as soon as possible.

In 2012 I built a new oil mill equipping it with all the best technologies available. Having a great raw material is not enough. If you want to obtain a great product, you must be able to work it in the best possible way to enhance its qualities. I began to make a selection on several levels. Not only a careful and rigorous selection at the time of harvest, but all the oil produced is subjected to a subsequent and scrupulous selection that allows you to choose only the best for each bottle.

I created crus with Itrana, such as the DOP Colline Pontine which expresses its typicality, but with the In and the De (Intense and Delicate), I wanted to enhance its 2 most extreme expressions. Since 2020 we have had the Organic Certification (Certificate No. 12-07796 issued by the OdC "Soil & Health"), for us a natural step in our long family tradition of olive growers which has always found a certain reference in respect for the environment.

Many of you tell me that I managed to make my dream come true. And I thank you all for that. Your closeness gives me strength. But the love for my land and the dedication to my work stimulate me to improve more and more every day.

TRUST THE "KEEPERS OF ITRANA"

Harmony, precondition for excellence . Excellence is achieved only if nature is respected. This is our vision, but above all it is our experience. It is more than an ethical principle, because it is what we have learned through the work of generations. If you want to get the best out of nature, you have to respect it and help it express itself. Balance and harmony. Respect the natural cycles, without forcing them. Also knowing how to accept when it is less generous. Only in this way can he give us his best. Unique, complex and multifaceted aromas, intensity, stability. These guiding principles have guided my family for generations and my business for the past 25 years. The passion for olive growing and respect for nature help us to preserve the territory and biodiversity.

I think I grew up with a sense of admiration but also of protection towards these plants, something that was passed on to me by my father and which, in some way, makes me feel the responsibility of being a sort of "Guardian of Itrana". A feeling that I am passing on to my children. My company has obtained organic certification. I'm proud of it, but for me it's not a point of arrival. It's just a stage of a path born spontaneously over the years. If anything, it is the starting point for new and more important challenges.

A LOOK AT THE TERRITORY

Our company, our olive groves, are located in a wonderful area. Here, the Itrana, a unique variety of olive trees, thanks to the influence of the sea air, the almost uninterrupted presence of the sun, the rocky conformation of the land and the altitude and exposure of our hills, has found over the centuries its natural habitat.

Our olive trees grow in an uncontaminated territory, enclosed between the Karst Natural Monument of Campo Soriano and the extensive territory of the Circeo National Park, bulwarks guaranteeing the integrity of the territory also for future generations. In these lands man has been present since ancient times and has left indelible and unique testimonies. Just look south towards Terracina to be able to admire the remains of the Temple of Jupiter Anxur, a work built by the ancient Romans which dominates the port and the town. From here, immersed in history, the view is breathtaking, it embraces Sperlonga, the Circeo Promontory and stretches to the horizon to the Pontine Islands.

Or return a few steps from our company to be able to find, to the north, the ancient Fossanova Abbey and its complex, a reference point for travelers for centuries.

But the gourmet traveler who is preparing to visit this area, in addition to the historical and natural beauties, will be able to discover authentic food and wine delicacies capable of satisfying even the most demanding palates. For example, our territory is one of the areas of excellence for Mozzarella di Bufala. There are numerous dairies that raise buffaloes directly and with their milk they produce extraordinary buffalo-based products every day: mozzarella, trecce, ricotta and a large variety of cheeses.

Nearby Sezze is historically the territory of choice for the production of Roman artichokes (DOP) famous for their goodness. One cannot fail to mention the "Favetta di Terracina", a delicious and very fragrant heart-shaped strawberry, unique in its kind, which grows only in our area.

And yet the catch of our coasts, the result of the constant work of the local fleets made up of fishing boats but also of rezzetelle, that is, small boats for fishing along the coast; here, also thanks to unique seabeds and habitats, the sea offers authentic gems every day, much in demand by excellent restaurateurs and researchers.

And finally why not toast? Here we can fill the glasses with the very fragrant Moscato di Terracina, a unique variety of Moscato that produces excellent dry, sparkling, sweet and even passito wines.

All these excellent products are a heritage for our area and find space in the most sought-after gastronomies and are the basis and source of inspiration for many gourmet dishes by the best chefs in the area.

SONNINO TERRITORY OF ITRANA

Our olive groves are entirely located in the Municipality of Sonnino. In this area of ​​lower Lazio, since ancient times, Itrana has found its ideal territory where nature and man's work have created a perfect union. Even my family's history is inextricably linked to the cultivation of Itrana. Here, through the patient work of generations, we have managed to identify the best places to plant olive trees and enhance their characteristics. I'm talking about pristine places, which enjoy the best exposures, with plants caressed by the sea winds during the day and refreshed by the breezes that descend from the highest peaks of the Ausoni mountains at night. Idyllic conditions for Itrana.

Our olive groves are a real open-air museum of Itrana. Centuries-old plants and younger plants that are all 100% Itrana, from the deepest root to the leaf of the highest branch. They are all plants reproduced from cuttings (not grafting) selected from the different varieties of Itrana present in our area since ancient times. In the olive groves we have always avoided herbicides. Thanks to this, spontaneous and medicinal plants grow there, sometimes edible, such as clover, wild mint, wild asparagus, mallow, purslane, dandelion and many others. They constitute the habitat where insects, bees and small wild animals coexist. Flora and fauna that create a mutually reinforcing symbiosis. My work in the olive groves is never invasive but tends to support nature in achieving its complex and harmonious balance. Also for these reasons it was a spontaneous and natural choice to bring the olive groves to Organic, obtaining the Certification starting from 2020. For me it is just an important step on a journey that will take me towards new goals.

Today we have a total of about 100 hectares dedicated to olive groves and are located in different contexts. This is good and is one of the fruits of my family's work. Itrana is in fact capable of expressing itself differently depending on the places where it grows. Most of the olive groves are located on the hills, around 500 meters high. Here on high ground there is little soil and the roots of the olive trees make their way sinking into the cracks in the rocks. In this more extreme environment, Itrana seems to prove to be "more stingy", with smaller olives and in fewer quantities. But in return it gives us intensity and complexity unattainable elsewhere. It is precisely from these olive groves that we choose the best olives for our Cru In (Intense). Our "Black Olives of Gaeta" in brine also come from here.

Other olive groves are located at the foot of the hills, on richer and deeper soils. Olive groves created with new innovative techniques, with a quincunx planting layout to make better use of the sun and to prevent the shade of each tree from bothering the others. Here Itrana surprises again managing to express complexity in a delicate key. This is where our Cru De (Delicate) comes from. And yet the "White Olives of Gaeta", fleshy as never elsewhere and large.

THE DIFFERENCE FOR EXCELLENCE

I wanted to work these wonderful olives according to criteria of excellence, always looking for the best possible result. The milling phase is very important for the final result.

If all the steps are not carried out according to strict quality standards, there is a risk of invalidating the final result even in the presence of very high quality raw materials.

So in 2012 I created a modern, latest generation oil mill; a technologically advanced plant with cold extraction.

All the components are in stainless steel to allow perfect sanitation and, consequently, the maintenance of the purity of the taste-olfactory framework of the oil.

With it I can grind the olives in the shortest possible time after their harvest and manage all the milling phases according to what I have learned over the years.

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