Swimming pool:
The swimming pool, 15 meters x 7, just under the Mongiovino Vecchio's walls, is deep 1,40 to 2,40 meters; it is in use from May until September.
Extra Virgin Oil:
The estate Castello di Mongiovino was born as an olive farm. There are approx. 6,000 olive trees on the estate, the most important varieties being frantoio, moraiolo and leccino. The olive mill is at the centre of the farm overlooking Panicale. Once the harvest starts, (sometime between the end of October and the beginning of November), the olives picked each day are pressed immediately in order to ensure that the extra virgin oil produced is of the lowest possible acidity and that the oil's perfumes and fragrances are maintained intact.
Olive seminars every year from 1 November to half December where
students will be involved hands on in all elements of olive cultivation (varieties, planting, trimming, organic methods), harvesting, olive pressing, tasting(with Umbrian DOP tasters).
Guest book:
Luck brought me to Mongiovino, but it was the gracious owner which brought me back. I needed to conduct first hand research in olive oil production and I committed myself to help in the harvest. Suffice to say, bringing in a thousand kilos of olives everyday during the optimal period is a shattering task, working, as it was, with Italians whose respect I wanted to gain and by matching both their torrential pace and their care to reap undamaged fruit.
And then, early in the harvest, the strangest thing happened. I swore I could see more clearly, as if my glasses were cleaned for the first time. Suddenly, I didn’t want (need?) to smoke anymore. My waist began to recede. I became convinced that, if I were to remain, I would not only live longer, but my time would be healthier. Of course, hours of exercise in a health club, psychotherapy and a rigid diet would probably accomplish the same thing, but artificially.
