Yellow gold, Garda olive oil

The mild climate of Lake Garda is ideal for growing olives that produce an outstanding extra-virgin olive oil. Malcesine has a long tradition of producing Garda olive oil, one which has been handed down through the generations.

Olive trees have been part of Malcesine's flora since Roman times; the first documents attesting their presence in the area date back to 900 A.D.

The olive tree

The plant started to spread when the first main monasteries in Nothern Italy needed oil for sacred rites and to enlighten their churches.

Every cultivable land was stolen with great effort to the wood and the mountain. No other plant could grow so easily in such conditions, as the soil is poor, stony, calcareous and exposed to long summer droughts.

Olive trees have found here, around Lake Garda, the perfect habitat and still keep on growing luxuriantly.

Olive trees have been the only source of livelihood since ancient times. 

It's a bond based on respect and affection: they are all well aware that they have been responsible for the defense and diffusion of this noble plant for two thousand years.

People from Malcesine are very attached to their olive trees.

People don't seem to realize how extraordinary this territory is, considering that about 60 km north of the Lake there are snowfields of Brenta Dolomites, while about 60 km south of the Lake stands the foggy Po Valley.

The variety

The olive tree has so well acclimated to Lake Garda environment that some local cultivar have been selected over the centuries...

As it is the case with Casaliva, the most common in Malcesine, but also Grignano, Raza and Rossanel.

These varieties have specific features concerning both colour and quality of the product itself. One of the best is Casaliva.

The eastern shore of Lake Garda is called the olive trees grove shore.

Olive oil features

The Casaliva cultivar, the latitude choosen to cultivate, the longevity of the plants and the type of soil, all contribute to give the olive oil of Malcesine its unparalleled and unique features.

It's a light oil with a very low degree of acidity, a light fruity scent and taste with a nuance of almond. Its deep golden green colour is due to its high chlorophyll content.

The P.D.O, Protected Designation of Origin, named "Garda" has been a further guarantee of the origin and of the refined and high organoleptic properties of this product since 1998.