On a warm, blustery December afternoon outside the De Laurentis olive oil-producing co-op in the white hilltop town of Ostuni, Puglia, Luigi D'Amico holds out his palm, revealing an olive picked ...
The Island has already won last year with the wild olive tree of Santu Baltolu ... Competing for the title are trees from the four Italian macro-regions: North, Center, South and Islands.
Olive oil is a backbone of the Italian economy, cuisine, and culture, with some olive groves supporting trees which are thousands of years old, and the industry responsible for thousands of jobs.