how thisstarted.
Pino brought olive oil up from Bagnara Calabra to his brother-in-law Roger in Maastricht. Friends asked, then their friends asked. Eventually it became this.
a bottle at a time, on the kitchen counter.
Pino is Dominic's dad. He's from Bagnara Calabra, where his cousin's family makes olive oil. Every time Pino visited his brother-in-law Roger in Maastricht, he brought a bottle up with him.
It didn't taste like what we'd been buying in the Netherlands. Peppery enough to catch at the back of the throat. Bitter in the way Italians like it.
For a few years, that's all it was. A bottle at a time, on the kitchen counter.
friends, then their friends.
Roger started giving the bottles to friends, and the friends started asking for more. Then their friends asked. After a while, what fit in a suitcase wasn't enough.
We arranged with the family in Bagnara to ship a small case at a time. Then a few cases. It wasn't a plan. It was just a way to keep up with the people who were already asking.
That's still mostly how it works. Most of what we sell goes to people who heard about it from someone they know.
one harvest a year.
There is one harvest a year, and the family only sells what comes from their own grove. They've turned down offers to expand. So have we.
It would be straightforward to find a second supplier and double what we sell. We don't want to. The reason this oil tastes the way it does is that nothing about it has been scaled up.
The current batch is finished. The next harvest comes in autumn 2026, and we'll handle it the same way as this one.
the family in Bagnara.
The grove is in Bagnara Calabra. It belongs to Pino's cousin's family. They've been pressing oil there for generations.
Pino doesn't run the press. His cousin does. Pino is Dominic's dad, and the brother-in-law of Roger in Maastricht. The brand is named after him because he's the reason any of this oil ever made it up north.
the 2026 harvest comes in autumn. we'll handle it the same way as this one.