Colonna Oils

Colonna Oils are produced by the Colonna sisters Marina and Vittoria on their family's estate in the province of Campobasso in the region of Molise, Italy.

The oils they make are flavoured with citrus fruit. They grow their own olives on a 360 hectare farm, 70 hectares of which are given over to growing olives. The olives that they grow for their olive oil are Ascolano, Coratina, Leccino, Nocellara and Peranzana olives. The estate presses each type of olive separately, then blends them to achieve the taste they are after in their oil.

The citrus fruit is brought in from Sicily. The oil is not flavoured with extract from the citrus fruit. Rather, the citrus is pressed along with the olives.

The oils are sold in decanters or 500 ml bottles marked with their family crest. The oils can be used as a marinade or a condiment.

All of these should be used as finishing oils to drizzle dishes with at the end of cooking or after cooking, rather than as a cooking oil.

Colonna Lemon Oil

(

Granverde Colonna

)
Extra virgin olive oil whose olives have been pressed along with zest of lemons from Sicily. The oil is yellow with a tinge of green, and has a fresh lemon flavour that doesn't taste artificial. Good on salads, squid, fish, risotto and vegetables.

Colonna Arancio Oil

As per above, but made with the zest of oranges from Sicily. Good for same uses as the Lemon, but also good for stronger flavoured meats, and in some desserts.

Colonna Mandarino Oil

As for the Arancio, but made with the zest of mandarin oranges from Sicily.

Colonna Bergamia Oil

As for the Arancio, but made with the zest of Bergamot oranges from Calabria. The taste is just a little sharper than the other two orange oils, as would be expected owing to the use of Bergamot, which is a bitter orange.
Their father, Prince Francesco Colonna, started the olive groves in 1968, and when he died, the two daughters extended and modernized the operation.

Molise is a newly-created region, dating from December 1964, split off from Abruzzo. To the east is the Adriatic Sea, and to the west of the region of Lazio (Latium), where Rome is -- so not very far from Rome.

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