Who we are

Dedicated to the historic and traditional cultivation of olive trees, the Rialbo Estate is now owned by the Gustapane families, passed on to them by the Palmieri family who owned the estate for more than five centuries.

In both the Rialbo di Sopra and Rialbo di Sotto farms there are ancient underground oil presses which testify the centuries old tradition of olive farming of the estate and its people.

This secular experience allowed farming to   constantly refine   the cultivation and conversion techniques, thus obtaining, thanks also to the rich variety of cultivation planted, the high quality oil produced today throughout the estate (Rialbo di Sopra,Rialbo di Sotto e Rialbo Piccola).

Rialbo di Sopra is the oldest fortified farm in the Ostuni countryside; the original building, in fact, was erected before the year 1578, as shown by the date inscribed on the cartouche and confirmed by the architecture of the underground press which clearly precedes that date.

The farm with its typical tower based construction, high fortified walls, with the main entrance capped with walkways and defense slots, served as protection and defense throughout the centuries thus allowing the development of rural economy of the land.

The ancient hypogeum press is situated under the tower of the Rialbo di Sopra, the press is excavated in the rock thus guaranteeing a constant temperature of 15°-18° throughout the year, which is the ideal to obtain the finest high quality oil.

The high quality of the oil is furthermore guaranteed by strictly following the good traditional agricultural rules by periodic ploughing and pruning, annual suckering, drip irrigation systems and the use of organic mineral fertilizers with a high nutrient efficiency.

Nature First! The olive trees of Rialto di Sopra are traditionally managed by the use of fertilizers and plant protection agents fully respecting cycles of requirements so as to assure the absence of these substances in the finished products.

To be a high quality olive oil, it must show   very low acidity, low number of peroxides and a high level of polyphenols which is achieved by manual harvesting done only when the olives have reached the right grade of maturity.

Rialbo Piccola was built by Alessandro Gustapane in the year 2006 to produce genuine, healthy and biological products.

Rialbo Piccola has therefore adopted since the beginning biological agricultural practices so that from 2015 it has been duly authorized to market its products as Biological Extra Virgin olive oil.

The farming of the olive grove is conducted strictly adhering to the required protocols for biological agriculture and the good farming practices derived from ancient experience: periodic pruning of the olive trees, yearly ploughing and suckering, drip irrigation systems and fertilization using only products allowed by the biological farming specification.

The high quality of the produced extra virgin olive oil and its very low acidity (together with a very low number of peroxides and high value of polyphenols) is furthermore guaranteed by manual harvesting performed only when the olives are at the right level of maturity.

The oil is then obtained by strictly cold pressing done within maximum 24 hours from the harvest so as to maintain intact the organoleptic characteristics of the oil itself.

Rialbo Piccola also produces vegetables preserved in extra virgin olive oil, which are packed in jars and   follows   the simple and traditional Apulian which respect the production protocols by using extra virgin olive oil without the addition of any chemical preservatives. In particular, extreme care is taken to ensure that the vegetables are packed in jars   within 24 hours from their harvest to assure their freshness and fragrance remain unaltered.