The "Tenuta Tresca Estate" began olive oil production in 1820. Mr. Domenico Cito, the present estate owner, belongs to the fifth generation of oil producers. The name "Cito" derives from the ancient house from Campania, who had certainly lived in Salerno since the 13th century. It was King Charles of Borbone who made Baldassarre Cito a Marquis. Some members of Cito's family decided to leave Campania, their native land to move to Puglia, through an itinerary which is still unknown, and they settled initially in Terra di Bari and later in Terra d'Otranto, San Cassiano, in the heart of wonderful Salento. Over the centuries, the "Tenuta Tresca Estate" has been engaged in devoting all efforts to specialize in the cultivation of olive trees with the only mission to always guarantee superior quality extra-virgin olive oil. "An "all purpose" oil, which is used: during the celebration of sacraments, which mark the faith of people from their birth until their death; as the basic condiment for "poor food"; as a sort of panacea for all ills; during the past millennia, as an irreplaceable source of light" (A: Giaccari, Le strade dell'olio, in "Le terre d'Arneo", Consorzio Intercomunale "Torre d'Arneo", Lecce, 2001, p. 1099). Still today Mr Domenico Cito takes care of his olive trees with devotion and passion in order to produce oils particularly appreciated by consumers because of their organoleptic properties. Their names recall the peculiarities of the land where they live. Olives are directly picked from the trees when they are fully ripened. They are carried to the oil mill where they are cold-pressed in an environment which never exceeds 80 degrees Fahreneit (27 degrees Celsius) within and not over 6 hours. Oil is not subject to any filtering process but, according to the most ancient tradition, it is allowed to slowly settle not to lose the delicate aromas, flavours and healthful nutrients of olives. It is a long time since the Estate has complied with the strict rules of the "Organic Farming" (EC Reg. 834/07) and has received the Protected Designation of Origin ("PDO") status, which certifies the area, place and country of the oil. Both "Organic Farming" and "PDO" certifications are acknowledged by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies.
RESPECT FOR THE LAND
According to "The Tenuta Tresca Estate", the full respect of the land, which is part of the history of local people has the same importance of oil production. Everybody contributes to protect one's land. Among olives groves, there is still a remaining and luxuriant vegetation patch of the original and almost mythical "Bosco Belvedere". It is an example of "Bosco Mediterraneo Sempreverde", where, together with Oleasters, Quercus ilex, Myrtus communis, Asparagus acutifolius, Ruscus aculeatus, Osyris alba and Cyclamen hederifolium grow abundantly and colour underwood during the long Autumn. Smilax aspera, Rubia peregrina and Rosa sempervirens cling along old stone walls while stone and shrubs get entangled along Hedera helix which prevails in shady areas. At the dawn of the third millennium, this example of "forest archaeology" is evidence of Salento's glorious and sylvan past, when, differently from the present age, forests "joined together so as to form a rather unbroken line along the Salento coast with vegetation patches inside" (D. Novembre, Aree antiche e recenti della macchia nel salento, in "Atti del XIX Congresso Geografico Italiano", Editrice Noseda, Como, 1965, nota n. 9 p. 183). During Middle-Ages, Bosco Belvedere was a large forest along the geological pit placed between the "Serra di Poggiardo" and the "Serra di Supersano", which included the land of today's municipalities of San Cassiano, Nociglia, Scorrano, Spongano, Muro Leccese, Ortelle, Miggiano, Poggiardo, Supersano, Montesano Salentino, Surano, Sanarica, Botrugno and Ruffano. Inside Bosco Belvedere, plenty of broad-leaved trees, such as Quercus virgiliana, Quercus frainetto, Quercus delechampii, Ulmus minor, Carpinus betulus and Fraxinus excelsior, together with holm-oaks, grew luxuriantly and formed "a fitocenosis, mainly of mesophilic microorganisms, rather uncommon in Salento, supported by a large quantity of water on a surface stratum able to counterbalance drought and summer heat in this sunny southern region" (A. Giaccari, La Foresta di Cutrofiano, da bene feudale a strumento di sviluppo del territorio. Un caso studio, in "Economia Agro-alimentare", nn. 2-3, Editore Franco Angeli, Milano, 2004, p. 158). This area will be included in "I Paduli" park. In the vernacular, "paduli" is a term which means "marshes" with reference to a subterranean water-rich aquifer in southern Salento, which, in the past, before optimization of surface water flow, fed large areas of marshland