We anticipated an earlier harvest (late September) due to lengthy rains in early spring and the abnormally extended flowering season. Still, the olives had different plans, and we started a few weeks later, coincidentally on the same day as last year’s - on October 10th.

Despite widespread expectations that the summer’s high temperatures would deter the olive fly’s arrival, we trusted our instincts and took early measures. A move that paid off, sparing our groves from the fate that many unfortunately suffered.

Although we dodged the fly, we could not dodge the heat and summer’s drought without consequence. Our San Donato and La Torricella regenerated rain-fed groves, despite our organic protective soil layer that helps to lessen the drought impacts, were still insufficient to retain the necessary water. As a result, many of the trees in these groves struggled in the heat.

Late season rains came, but it was too late for some trees, whose stressed olives were not selected for our Reserve, debunking the myth borrowed from the wine world that stressed olives yield quality extra virgin oil.

Conversely, sub-sections of our Balatro grove (nicknamed 'Il Poggino' and 'Buca') flourished alongside our Vernalese grove, a now three-year Reserve regular. This also debunks the popular yet broad and all-encompassing 'single estate' term, which, although it has marketing appeal, is only sometimes synonymous with quality.

Our experience indicates that distinctiveness and highest quality lie at the grove and subsection level.

On a final update note - Challenging events have marked this year's harvest, including early rains, a prolonged drought, intense heat, the olive fly, and late rains. Following the end of our harvest, the season concluded with another dramatic turn on November 3rd, a date that eerily echoes the devastating floods in Florence on Nov 4, 1966. High winds and floods ravaged northwest Florence, tragically impacting many lives. This series of events has made this harvest the most challenging in nine years and marks the third consecutive year of extreme conditions.

Our thoughts are with all the affected families and fellow producers during this difficult time.

The daily extractions not selected for the Founder’s Reserve, although still exceeding both sensory and chemical parameters standard of high-quality extra virgin olive oil, were amassed and left with the community for sale.

The fluctuating harvest temperatures during our chosen extractions ranged from 11°C (51.8°F) to 21°C (69.8°F), enhancing our phenolic retention and the aroma complexity of this Reserve. At the end of each milling day, we filtered and stored the oil in different temperatures and nitrogen-controlled fusti to later blind-test each extraction and decide which to use and in what quantity.

Some extractions were immediately discarded, while others were set aside and retested. The higher level of complication this year was the lower quantities than usual. The tests limited our quantities further, requiring us to be more precise with every extraction and requiring more concentration tasting every night.

As always, I taste alongside some of the most experienced tasters in the world to remove any bias, and although not required by law, we perform very extensive chemical and multi-residual tests to ensure the health and cleanliness of the olives as well as the impact of our work on our rejuvenated groves.

We also balanced the organoleptic profile and the phenolic content of this year's oil (511 mg/Kg) to balance health benefits and sensory pleasure.

I'm also thrilled to introduce a special addition to this year's Reserve: an eco-friendly gift box crafted right in the heart of the community that nurtures our groves, further supporting local sustainability efforts that extend beyond the land, the trees, and the olive oil itself.

Custom label and box design by artist Steve Hagey, AG's long-term collaborator and friend.

After three years of dedication, alongside our incredible community, we have revitalized another grove - 262 Moraiolo olive trees at Osteria.

On Oct. 26th, we celebrated its first harvest in a quarter-century. Despite the challenges of a devastating fire and two frosts, one bottle of extra virgin olive oil was released for each rejuvenated Moraiolo tree.

262 Bottles, monocultivar Moraiolo, hand-harvested, hand-labeled and numbered.