Taste The Earth

Wow, I have some fantastic news to share with you.  Many of you know that I am in Germany attending BioFach, the largest and most important trade fair for ONLY organic products.  Today is the last day of the fair.  Since Thursday many attendees (this fair is only open to trade professionals) have participated in tasting and ranking 68 organic olive oils from all over the world-Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, New Zealand, Greece, etc.  Today the top prize was awarded to Antica Masseria Venditti for their wonderful estate oil from Campagna!

Yesterday, Nicola Venditti was taking pictures of the television monitor that showed in real time the status of each oil in the competition.  He could not believe his small estate’s oil was leading the contest, and probably to soften what he thought would be the eventual result, he told me it was nice to have the top spot if only for a short time.   When I saw him today after the results were announced he really could not believe it.

Producing olive oil from his small grove is only a hobby;  he makes typical wines from Campagna for a living.  He entered the contest just because he was at the show exhibiting the wines and thought, "Why not?" 

You can find this grand prize winning oil only on our  website!

We have a very limited supply available now, but a few more bottles are due to arrive this coming Friday.  This is probably your last opportunty to purchase this particular prizewinning oil-a wonderful, delicate silky texture in the mouth, a long finish redolent with a fruit of the olive taste-because, as I mentioned, it is a very limited production.  It is always used crudo-raw, never for cooking.  It is perfect drizzled on toasted or grilled bread, atop bruschetta, or  for a sparkling look and unique flavor when serving bean soups like lentil or chickpea or add a splash to cooked  vegetables, or, finally use as an appetizer by creating a dip with the Antica Masseria oil, salt and fresh ground pepper to accompany raw veggies. 

It makes a beautiful gift since it is packaged in a lovely box depicting the estate, which has been in the Venditti family since 1595.  Also, don’t forget the other amazing item available from this family-Mosto Cotto, simply the cooked grapes from their vineyards.  The Mosto is naturally sweet and FULL of the taste of mature grapes ripened on the Campagnan hills and picked in the cool of morning before the sun rises.  The Mosto is not currently up on the site since it is out of stock, but we expect a limited supply to arrive on Friday and we will make certain you can find it at tastetheearth.comonce it is available.

Thank you for your support of all the fine growers who are part of our product line.  I was happy to see Emanuelle and Enza of Il Nutrimento, who make our tomato sauces and savory spreads (As an aside Emanuelle brought Enza’s Mexican salsa for me and my friends to taste.  Yes, Mexican salsa and it was amazing.  We devoured the entire jar while making jokes about how we did not think the salsa would play well to their Italian customers.).  Also, I visited with Max DeAngelis, the son of the genius behind the chocolate hazelnut spreads, Danilo DeAngelis.  It is always so inspiring to me when it is possible to hang out with such passionate people.
All the best.
Ciao,
Steve