Last week Paul and I were fortunate enough to join some friends who have the executive benefit of vacationing at a privately owned villa above the  French Mediterranean on the Cap du Ferrat. At this magnificent home, we celebrated life with the

Chef Marc in his Domain

culinary musings of Chef Marc and what a journey it was. Every night we enjoyed a seaside four course meal including the fromage platter in between. Our luncheon was equally delicious. We understandable settled for fresh yogurt, fruit and muesli for breakfast to try and compensate for all the excellent, cheeses, fresh breads, wines, and scrumptious meals including a chocolate galette to die for! (Although I must admit to having a few homemade croissants as well, because they were too difficult to pass up). Everything with simply fresh ingredients and unique combinations.

One evening we were enjoying a wonderful olive oil dressing, and the oil had the most beautiful flavor, so I inquired about it since our shop La Buena Vida in Den Haag sells what I consider to be great quality olive oils, and our server, Ingrid brought me a bottle of the oil so I could take a photo of the label. It is an olive oil that we had not heard of before, and during my research about this product, I have come to enjoy the extraordinary history of Gonnelli 1585.

The tie between the Gonnelli family and extra virgin olive oil goes back to 1585, when the brothers, Francesco,

The Award-winning Gonnelli 1585 Extra Virgine Olive Oil

Lorenzo and Giulio di Taddeo di Michele di Lorenzo Gonnelli bought the Santa Tea Farm from the monks of the Carmine Convent.

The farm, a place belonging to the people of Santa Tea is bordered by: I the Parish Church of Cascia, II and III by the Santa Tea road and IV by the same Parish Church. Also included was a small and precious oil mill dedicated to the production of extra virgin olive oil, valued and consumed by the local population.

Thanks to the sales contract preserved in the archives by the Stato Notarile di Firenze (the State Notarial of Florence), notary Francesco Albizi, number 2122-1582/1586, it is possible to note that the Santa Tea Farm was bought for 300 soldi (the currency), by the tenth Grand Duke 4850 of the Gonnelli brothers.

During this wonderful trip of a lifetime the staff at the villa gave us a bottle of this famed golden oil, and I am happy to say we will now be bringing it to the Hague to share with our Dutch friends, family and neighbors. La Buena Vida will have it in stock within the next 5-10 days, and despite what you might expect of an oil of this stature, the price is surprisingly reasonable. It will be available in a small 5 bottle sampler pack, or we will offer for sale both the Gonnelli 1585 and their Biological Extra Virgine Oil in either 500nl or 750 ml. You may visit us at Fahrenheitstraat 582 in Den Haag.

Please feel free to share this story of the Gonnelli Brothers and their 5 Generation family tradition of olive oil making with the connoisseurs in your life…Living La Buena Vida!