Abandoned Grove and its founder, seen from outside
The record in other people’s words.
Films, press, institutions and recognition, from The New York Times to PBS and Yale.
Film and TV
Obsessed with Olive Oil
Hosted and co-produced by Fil Bucchino. Winner, Arcosanti Film Festival.
What a fresh extra virgin olive oil tastes like, and why so few people ever taste one. The first feature documentary on olive oil quality follows the harvest in Italy to find out.
Watch on YouTube
The World of Olive Oil
PBS. Fil Bucchino and Frank Licari, co-hosts.
Why an ingredient this old is still changing, told across Italy, from its history to the mill.
Watch on PBS
Dolce Homemade
TLN. Fil Bucchino with David Rocco.
What real extra virgin olive oil changes on the plate, cooked and tasted in David Rocco’s kitchen.
Watch on TLN
Press
Also inGlobal News · WTNH · Revista Almaceite · Buonissimo · Elite Gen · Behind Greatness · Kitchen Confessions · iRun · Frantoi · Olive Groves France · The Chronicle Herald
Institutions
Yale University
At the Schwarzman Center, a master class, a panel discussion and a tasting for more than 200 people.
Chianti Classico Consorzio
Master classes and tastings of Chianti Classico extra virgin olive oil in New York, Toronto and Radda in Chianti.
LIFE Olivares Vivos+
Since 2023, independent researchers have measured the biodiversity in our groves. In 2025 they counted 49 bird, 25 spider, 18 ant, 12 bat and 8 pollinator species.
Also invited by
- AIRO, Florence: communicating olive oil quality
- Women in Olive Oil, Charlottesville: documentary presentation
- Ferrandi Paris: keynote and tasting
- Jornada de Oleoturismo y Calidad, Alcañiz: keynote
- North American Olive Oil Association, Las Vegas: documentary presentation
- Mediterranean Diet Roundtable, Notre Dame: communicating olive oil quality
- Slow Food, Valli Orobiche and Mugello: “Extra virgin olive oil is not a condiment”
- Italian Trade Commission, Toronto: master class for press and hospitality
- Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario and Unioncamere Lazio, Toronto: master class
- Devour! The Food Film Fest, Wolfville: master class and tasting
After a tasting
Fil Bucchino
Fil Bucchino was born in Florence and is based in Toronto. Before olive oil, he toured North America as a professional musician and earned an honours degree in biomedical sciences.
In 2005, during a stay in Tuscany, he tasted an olive oil that changed the direction of his work. He returned to the harvest year after year, learning from growers, millers, tasters, agronomists and scientists, and trained as a panel taster. In 2009 he made the first oil and shared it with family and friends. In 2016 it became Abandoned Grove.
He hosted and co-produced Obsessed with Olive Oil, the first feature documentary on olive oil quality, and is the co-host of The World of Olive Oil on PBS. He judges international competitions on four continents and leads tastings and master classes for universities, consortia, chambers of commerce and chefs.
In the groves, he works beside Andrea Pagliai, master grower of the groves in our care, and the crews who tend them.
Recognition
- Olive Oil Personality of the Year, Italian Association of Olive Oil Restaurants (AIRO), 2023
- Pentola d’Oro Buonissimo Award, Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario, 2023
- President of the Ethical Awards, Olio Nuovo Days, Paris, 2023 and 2024
- Obsessed with Olive Oil: winner, Arcosanti Film Festival, 2019
Directories and panels
- Italy’s National Directory of Virgin and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Experts, Florence Chamber of Commerce: the only Canadian listed
- Certified panel taster, ANAPOO tasting commission, Florence
- ONAOO: nominated in 2017 to lead its first chapter outside Italy, in Canada
Judging
- Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition, United States
- EVO IOOC, Italy
- Orciolo d’Oro, Italy
- Olio Nuovo Days, Paris, Northern and Southern Hemisphere
- Olio Nuovo Days, Liwa, United Arab Emirates
- Olivonomy, Paris
- South African Olive Awards, South Africa
- Olive d’Or, Montreal
Certified B Corporation
Independently verified for how we treat the land, the people and our impact.
1% for the Planet
We give 1% of our annual revenue to environmental nonprofits protecting air, land and water.
Workplace Kindness Awards 2026
Finalist for the Workplace Kindness Award, Growing Company, from Kindness at Work.
Every harvest is tested by certified laboratories.
How we measure the oil
Harvest Gatherings
Each autumn, we open the groves for a few days of harvest, extraction and the first oil. The clearest proof of the work is to stand inside it.
Harvest Gatherings
Belong to a grove.
The films, the articles and the recognition all lead back to the same place: the groves, and the oil they give each harvest. Membership keeps them in care.
Membership from $45 a year. With a tree, $225. Guard or gift a tree by December 31 for this year’s harvest.
Gift a Tree