ABOUT US
Due Leoni farm was founded a decade ago, when proprietor, Giuseppe Catalano di Melilli, purchased olive groves, a small vineyard, and several farmhouses, in a medieval village high in the Sabina hills. His family’s ancient history of citrus farming in Sicily (on the plain below Etna), was to be complemented by products from the Roman countryside.
Giuseppe patiently brought back to fruit ancient olive trees, and increased the acreage of the farm, by adding fields once belonging to the original fiefdom.
Castel San Pietro, in the dominion of Poggio Mirteto, Province of Rieti, Latium, was the site of a sojourn by the Apostle Saint Peter on his journey toward Rome, almost two thousand years ago. It is constructed around a castle once belonging to the powerful Orsini family. This fortification was built on the sloping terraces of a Roman villa, still visible in the castle’s formal gardens.
Olives - some dating back 500 years - grow among the classic vegetation of the Mediterranean brush. The olive trees nestle alongside laurel and sumac, the latter, a medicinal plant imported from Syria hundreds of years ago by monks of the nearby Abbey of Farfa. The abbey’s far-flung lands, to which our farm surely belonged, were granted by a deed from Emperor Charlemagne.
EXTRA-VIRGIN OLIVE OIL
Due Leoni is an organic olive oil born in one of the most ancient, but least-known areas of Italy: the Sabine hills near Rome. Magnificent natural scenery, Roman ruins, medieval fortresses and monasteries are home to an olive oil already legendary in ancient Rome.
On an estate of circa 40 hectares, we use biological methods to cultivate 26 hectares of olive groves, divided between pastures with olive trees and dedicated plots olive, at 400 m. above sea level in the Sabine Hills north of Rome, from ancient times suppliers of olive oil to the Eternal City.
The extra virgin olive oil, Due Leoni, is culled by hand from plants that thrive on rocky, gravelly soil, which nonetheless yields bountiful harvests. The predominant variety is the Carboncella, reputed for its slightly bitter and piquant taste. Resistant to picking, it is therefore hand-harvested on the steep slopes of a geological agglomerate of small pebbles, locally called "sasso." Together with the varieties Frantoio and Leccino, also cultivated on the estate, it composes the traditional blend of this particular region. Milling takes place just a few hours after harvest at the certified organic Frantoio di Galloni C. e Bettucci P. snc, in Montopoli di Sabina (Rieti), reachable in a few minutes from our fields.
Due Leoni olive oil has low acidity, a low percentage of peroxides and a high percentage of polyphenols. The low percentage of peroxides ensures that the oil does not change consistency easily and can thus be stored longer. The high percentage of polyphenols indicates the presence of the fruit, and guarantees stability for the oil, and a high anti-oxidant effect.
The median acidity of the 2015 production is 0,2 %, the peroxides are between 6 and 7 out of 20, and the polyphenols range from 356 to 367, while the “best olive oils” presenting a quantity which starts from 150.
Due Leoni is harvested with the care of an artisanal product, in the best tradition of Italian agriculture, which spans millennia with its wisdom, spiritual, and health benefits.
ESTATE
Benedictine monks from nearby Farfa Abbey planted the olives in our lands centuries ago. Farming occurred on these hills already in Roman times. We have carefully tended the roots of ancient plants, to ensure the continuation of the antique Carboncella variety. Our farm also produces Frantoio and Leccino olives. The groves are high in the Sabine Hills, north of Rome on southern slopes, with a limestone and pebble substrate allowing for abundant production, low acidity, and very high polyphenols.
The estate is located between 350 and 450 meters above sea level, and is conducted according to organic/biological methods, with a flock of sheep grazing below the trees.
Since the Carboncella is a very tenacious variety, the harvest takes place largely by hand, with combs, or mechanical rakes, according to the moment they are harvested, also due to the steep angle of much of the plantings. Leccino and Frantoio varieties, though normally less tenacious to harvest, are picked similarly since they are harvested as early as possible when they start changing colour in order to ensure the best quality.
ARTISTS’ EDITIONS
Collaborations with international artists are curated by Cornelia Lauf, and coordinated by Flavia Prestininzi. Communications and design input in consultation with Noëma Kosuth, Maria Vittoria Di Sabatino, and William Hearst Sullivan.
At ArtBasel, Due Leoni olive oil was featured in a recreation of Alison Knowles’ 1969 performance “Make A Salad.” Special presentations have also taken place at a Frieze Masters’ VIP event, in conjunction with celebrity chef, Giorgio Locatelli. Agricola Due Leoni has collaborated with art institutions such as mumok (Vienna), Galerie Esther Schipper (Berlin), and private clients, on innovative packaging and design ideas. The collaboration with Peter Kogler is featured in the Phaidon Wallpaper guide to Rome. The olive oil is available via Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, in museum bookshops, as well as artisanal distributors and restaurateurs in Austria, Germany, Italy, and the USA.