CLANDESTINO

CLANDESTINO (clandestine) is an olive oil dedicated to all those oils and oil producers that are not widely known. There are many small olive oil producers who, for various reasons, cannot put their products on the officially regulated market, but who nevertheless make oils of exceptional quality. Some of their products would easily qualify for the “extra virgin” label. The low prices of the olive oil that we find on the big, official market are imposed even on the small producers who are struggling to keep alive the olive groves that they inherited from their ancestors. Weather conditions and seasonal varieties make each year’s harvest a challenge, some years are excellent, some are good, and some years can be a catastrophe. Small farms are victims of these changes more than big producers. Price regulations are not easy to use as a tool to increase income in bad years. CLANDESTINO wants to cast light on those oils that circulate outside the big market, oils that are sold directly from producer to customer, some of them of high quality, but not recognized publicly.

TESTIMONIALS

The first time I spoke with Catullo, he told me his new passion was olive oil. When I visited Cori, the hometown where my grandparents were born and married, Catullo shared his Rosa & Meo olive oil. I began to understand his passion because his olive oil was fantastic! For the past several years, I have purchased a few bottles and felt like I was traveling to Italy in my own kitchen whenever I used it. But then I read “Extra Virginity” by Tom Mueller and came to realize how healthy and rare it was to enjoy 100% real olive oil.  I feel blessed to have found Rosa & Meo olive oil and wish I could buy 52 bottles – one for every week of the year!  Fortuitously, due to the timing of the olive oil production, receiving several bottles of Catullo’s olive oil is now my annual Christmas present to me and my family and we are very excited each year to receive the latest Rosa & Meo bottling.

By: Denise & Gary Mote, Ohio, USA.

I never knew very much about olive oil until I met Catullo Manciocchi. Now, I know a lot more about how olives are cultivated and picked, and how olive oil is pressed, analyzed, bottled and sold. My cooking has changed for the better, and I love to explore the different tastes and qualities of good EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL. Catullo Manciocchi is producing his olives and his EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL in the middle of one of Italy’s finest olive cultivating districts. His biological farm guarantees the very best results, and his knowledge leads to some of the best EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OILS that can be had in Italy today.

By: Sverre Rødahl, Copenahgen, DK.

“There was a time when olive oil for me was just another article in the super market. Then I tasted Catullo’s oil and realised it was like from a different world. And I learned about the different oils, the bad mixtures, the cheeting on the oil market, the fraud etc.etc. and understood why I enjoyed it so much. This oil is the real thing, and I love it. Only one problem – I have become totally addicted and can’t live without it.”

By: Lis Norup, Frederiksberg, DK

“Olive Oil from heaven. Thank you for your help while we were in Cori on voice training. You helped to make everything easier for us and it was a great experience to be in Cori. Thans for the lovely dinner in your home and I loved to watch the video where you swing local flag – great sport. Your Olive Oil will bring back to Cori soon – a salad with this Olive Oil is like drinking golden drops of heaven.

By: Mariane Josefen, Copenahgen, DK.

“I do want to thank you so much for all your help and your hospitality during the stay in Cori. It was simply wonderful to get such an insight glance at the everyday life in your beautiful town. And I would like to add one more thing: Your own Olive Oil is the most delicious I have ever tasted. So fruty, so fresh and such a luxury. Every time I taste it I remember Cori and your hospitality, and I smile :-)”

By: Pernille Stockfeld, Dragør, DK.

Sophus came by with the Olive Oil today, and i am just pouring it on the salad now- It is beautiful! Wonderful smell and even more wonderful taste. Congratulations on your masterpiece – see you soon.

By: Anders Moseholm, Copenahgen, DK.

“For several years, I have been fortunate enough to have tasted the EVOO of Rosa & Mio, produced by Catullo Manciocchi. The oil is always fresh with a beautiful green color which tastes and smells fruity, with slight spice and delicious olive taste”.

By: Nicholas Chiominto, Valencia, California, USA