The farm Musignano
Agriculture
The farm Azienda Agraria Musignano has over 200 hectares of land located close the village of Ponticelli (Città della Pieve). The farm lands are located both in the Valley of Chiana, and on the surrounding hills. The altitude of agricultural land ranges from ca. 250 meters above sea-level, i.e. lowlands that represent 60% of the total, to ca. 400 meters above sea-level, i.e. the remaining 40% that is located on hill slopes.
In the valley area the emphasis for farming is on cereals, sunflower and grasslands, with a long rotation that includes three to four years of alfalfa, both for production of hay as well as certified seeds. The grain crops cultivated are wheat (both normal and durum), maize (corn) and sunflower.
The hills are covered by woodlands, about seven hectares recently replanted vineyards and olive groves (about 1.250 trees).
The long rotations with grasslands, the work done in keeping the drainage network in good conditions, the use of organic fertilisers and the adoption of techniques that respect nature, e.g. the use of mechanical weed-killing methods instead of herbicides on cereal cultivation, and the use of products for organic agriculture in grape and olive production, give a testimony of a love for land and nature, over the possible trends and fashions of the moment.
The farm is organised as a company, where the members of the Andreoli family have all shares and take care of the direction and commercial lead of the farm, while the manpower consists of employees.
Extra virgin olive oil
Villa Taccini
The extra virgin olive oil of the farm Musignano di Andreoli, sold under the name Villa Taccini, is produced from the olives that grow on the hills facing Fondovalle and one of the important olive groves is that of Poggio Cavaliere.
Production method
Our extra virgin olive oil Villa Taccini gets its slightly opaque colour to the choice of making it decant naturally before bottling and in this way the suspended particles deposit. Since the oil has not been filtered, it is possible that a slight deposit forms at the bottom of the bottle, which is not a sign of bad quality. However, if the deposit is intense, it is advisable to transfer the oil in another bottle, especially if it is not to be consumed in a reasonably short period of time.
How to preserve
The best way to preserve extra virgin olive oil is to keep it in a cool place and to protect it from light and air.
Quality and prizes
Our extra virgin olive oil Villa Taccini won the first prize in the category of producers, at the contest of l'Oro dell' Umbria 2005 and it got a distinction of merit at the 14th National Competition of extra virgin olive oils; again, in 2006 l'Oro dell' Umbria, our olive obtained a quality prize.
How to buy
Please use this general form to buy our olive oil.
Our vineyards
The farm Azienda Agraria Musignano di Andreoli G e C has a long tradition in the field of wine and grape production, and it was on the list of producers of the DOC of Trasimeno until the middle of 1980s.
Old wine production
The vines used for the production of red wines were:
- Sangiovese (60 to 80%),
- together with Ciliegiolo,
- Gamay,
- Malvasia del Chianti and
- Trebbiano Toscano,
while white wine production used the following vines:
- Trebbiano Toscano (60% to 80%),
- Malvasia del Chianti and
- Verdello.
Replanted vineyards
During the first decade of 2000 the old vineyards has been replanted with the following vines:
- Cabernet Sauvignon,
- Sangiovese and
- Merlot.
This replantation allowed us to adopt more rational and modern production methods. However, this does not mean that all elements of tradition have been abandoned, since we still have a vineyard on a hill slope, which has been done only with chestnut poles.
Olive grove of Poggio Cavaliere seen from Palazzolo
Palazzolo seen from vineyard of Santa Chiara
Fields of valley seen from Poggio Cavaliere
Extra virgin olive oil Villa Taccini
Gold of Umbria 1st prize February 2005
Olive grove of Poggio Cavaliere
Working on vineyard below Palazzolo