Apulian Producer Extols Nuances of a Native Variety

Summary

The Gargano Promontory in Italy’s Foggia province is known for its rugged high­lands and ancient olive oil pro­duc­tion, with Oleificio Fratelli Vieste cre­at­ing the Aurea brand using Coratina and Ogliarola Garganica olives. The com­pany has adapted to cli­mate change through agro­nomic prac­tices like spe­cial­ized prun­ing and main­tain­ing soil fer­til­ity, while also focus­ing on sus­tain­abil­ity and con­sumer edu­ca­tion through tast­ings and tours.

Rugged high­lands and scat­tered peaks shape the soul of the Gargano Promontory, which stretches into the Adriatic Sea in the north­ern Apulian province of Foggia.

The region, known as the spur on Italy’s boot, is home to a large national park and is con­sid­ered one of the most ancient areas of olive oil pro­duc­tion in the coun­try.

Climate is the main chal­lenge, even more than pests. Olive trees need cold to rest. When the rhythm changes, every­thing changes.- Raffaele Vieste, co-owner, Oleificio Fratelli Vieste

There, blend­ing Coratina olives with the autochtho­nous Ogliarola Garganica cul­ti­var, Oleificio Fratelli Vieste crafted its Aurea brand, which earned a Silver Award at the 2025 NYIOOC World Olive Oil Competition.

The fam­ily-run farm and olive oil mill, founded in 1985, has 20 hectares of orchards, pri­mar­ily ded­i­cated to Ogliarola, Coratina and Leccino olive trees, but thrives on close rela­tion­ships with local olive grow­ers.

“This is our for­ti­eth year, and many pro­duc­ers have been with us for a very long time,” Raffaele Vieste, co-owner of the com­pany, told Olive Oil Times.

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The mill’s activ­ity orig­i­nated from a long-stand­ing fam­ily tra­di­tion of olive farm­ing.

“Our model is based on syn­ergy. We know the pro­duc­ers, we talk with them, and we select the best batches. This allows us to work with dif­fer­ent oils and offer vari­ety,” Vieste said.

“We know which olives come from each grove, how and when to har­vest them, and how to process them at their best. It’s a job built on mutual knowl­edge,” he added.

Aurea is made from olives har­vested early in October, when yields are low but the aro­matic pro­file is more devel­oped.

“When we har­vest so early, the yield does not even reach eight per­cent,” Vieste said, mean­ing that for every 100 kilo­grams of olives processed, no more than eight kilo­grams of oil are extracted, a yield con­sid­ered rel­a­tively low.

“It’s a risky, even uneco­nom­i­cal, choice, but that’s when Ogliarola Garganica expresses its best notes: almond, vanilla, a hint of tomato,” Vieste said. ​“It’s a com­plex yet del­i­cate oil. People appre­ci­ate it for its bal­ance.”

According to Vieste, in Aurea, the intense, struc­tured oil from Coratina, a well-known Apulian cul­ti­var, is bal­anced by the milder Ogliarola.

“In recent years, peo­ple tend to bring extreme olive oils to com­pe­ti­tions, with very strong fruiti­ness,” Vieste said.

“We pre­fer to pre­serve the iden­tity of our land. Ogliarola must always be there. It is our sig­na­ture. Even when we use Coratina, we aim for bal­ance, not strength for its own sake,” he added.

While the com­pany pro­duces a wide range of prod­ucts, includ­ing extra vir­gin olive oil with dif­fer­ent pro­files, its focus remains on the Ogliarola Garganica cul­ti­var.

“For us, it’s not just a vari­ety, it’s iden­tity. It is an olive oil that, when processed well, tells the story of this land like no other,” Vieste said.

“It has a thou­sand nuances. Depending on the har­vest time, it can range from mild and sweet to intensely green and fruity,” he added.

In recent years, the Vieste farm, like all pro­duc­ers in the region, has had to con­tend with droughts and heat waves.

“We find our­selves har­vest­ing at 24 ºC in November. We used to start after November 1st, when the cold weather would arrive. Now, that cold seems to have van­ished,” Vieste said.

Along with 20 hectares of local olive varieties, Oleificio Fratelli Vieste also relies on local grower partners. (Photo: Oleificio Fratelli Vieste)

Harvesting olives under such con­di­tions requires extra effort to main­tain qual­ity, as high tem­per­a­tures affect the trees, the fruits and the har­vest sched­ule.

“Climate is the main chal­lenge, even more than pests. Olive trees need cold to rest. When the rhythm changes, every­thing changes,” Vieste said.

To adapt to the impacts of cli­mate change, the com­pany has adopted tar­geted agro­nomic prac­tices.

“We’re lucky to have nearby ground­wa­ter. Emergency irri­ga­tion saves us dur­ing crit­i­cal peri­ods,” Vieste explained.

A cru­cial part of this adap­ta­tion is spe­cial­ized prun­ing.

“It may seem triv­ial, but giv­ing trees the right shape is fun­da­men­tal. Pruning helps the tree breathe, pro­duce bet­ter and with­stand heat,” Vieste said.

“Here we have a strong tra­di­tion of pruners. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer of them. Still, some have recently started teach­ing the new gen­er­a­tions,” he added.

Other prac­tices focus on main­tain­ing soil fer­til­ity.

“We try to keep the soil alive, with veg­e­ta­tion cover to retain mois­ture and sup­port the roots,” Vieste said.

Sustainability is inte­gral to the company’s vision. ​“We recover every­thing: olive pomace, olive pits, even prun­ing residues. We use the pomace as fer­til­izer, the pits as bio­mass. We’re plan­ning a bio­gas plant pow­ered by waste,” Vieste said.

“Some of these prac­tices were used in the past. Today, they are becom­ing essen­tial again. It’s not just an envi­ron­men­tal choice, it’s also an eco­nomic one,” he added. ​“The rela­tion­ship with con­sumers is another cor­ner­stone. The farm offers tast­ings and guided tours of the world of olive oil. Vieste said that con­sumers are chang­ing as their aware­ness about olive oil grows.”

“Today, vis­i­tors often arrive already informed. They know what to look for, and they rec­og­nize defects. Ten years ago, it wasn’t like that,” Vieste recalled. ​“It’s a cul­tural effort that’s bear­ing fruit,” he added.

The Vieste fam­ily can now show­case vis­i­tors the results of many years of pro­duc­ing high-qual­ity olive oil.

“Authenticity can­not be impro­vised. It is the result of his­tory, dif­fi­cult choices, and daily work,” Vieste said. ​“We con­tinue along this path, con­vinced that Italian extra vir­gin olive oil still has so much to say to the world.”