Frantoio Pietra Erta

Our Story

Where the Aurunci Mountains meet the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the ancient groves above Formia, the story of Pietra Erta begins — and has continued, generation after generation, in the same volcanic soil.

Frantoio Pietra Erta is a family-run olive mill rooted in the Province of Latina, Lazio — a region long prized for the quality of its olive cultivation. The families who tend these groves have done so for generations, combining inherited knowledge of the land with the patience required to produce something truly exceptional.

What began as a way of life has become a deliberate pursuit of excellence. Our mill uses a continuous-cycle cold press — state-of-the-art technology guided by ancestral instinct — to honor the fruit as nature grew it.

Every bottle of Pietra Erta is traceable to our groves: the soil, the variety, the harvest year. Nothing added, nothing hidden. Just the oil as it comes from the stone.

We produce for professional chefs and home cooks who understand that the quality of the ingredient is the first act of cooking — and for anyone who has ever tasted a truly great olive oil and understood what the difference means.

At the Frantoio

Where Oil
Becomes Itself

At our mill in Formia, the olives go from grove to press within hours of picking. Speed is not convenience — it is everything. Once harvested, oxidation begins. The shorter the window, the brighter, more complex, and more nutritionally intact the oil will be.

Our continuous-cycle cold press extracts the oil mechanically, without heat, at temperatures that never exceed 27°C. The result is what you see in the canister: an oil of vivid green-gold colour, heavy with polyphenols and alive with the character of the Itrana olive and the land it came from.

No additives. No blending. No shortcuts. The oil goes from the press into the bottle, and from the bottle to you.

Fresh Pietra Erta olive oil being poured at the mill in Formia
Olive grove with Aurunci mountains, Formia, Lazio

The Land

Formia sits where the volcanic Aurunci range descends to the Tyrrhenian coast. Mild winters tempered by sea air, hot summers cooled by mountain breezes — this microclimate coaxes from the Itrana olive a complexity that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Our groves, at altitude with full southern exposure, produce fruit of rare and consistent quality.

The Itrana Olive

The Itrana is one of Italy's most treasured cultivars, grown almost exclusively in the Pontine hills of Lazio. Late-ripening and naturally low-yield, it rewards patience with an oil of extraordinary character: bright green, with notes of fresh-cut grass, artichoke, and a distinctive peppery finish that signals its high polyphenol content.

As a Monocultivar oil — meaning a single olive variety, unblended — our oil is a direct, unmediated expression of this cultivar in this terroir. Nothing is diluted by other varieties.

The Process

We harvest each autumn at the "invaiatura" — the precise moment when the olive transitions from green to purple, when flavour and nutritional value reach their peak. The olives are taken to our mill within hours of picking.

Our continuous-cycle cold press operates at temperatures never exceeding 27°C, preserving the polyphenols, antioxidants, and full aromatic complexity that define a great extra virgin. From grove to bottle, every step is ours.

Colline Pontine D.O.P. Certified
"One Family. One Land. One Passion. Rooted in heritage, refined by innovation."
Via Pietra Erta snc  ·  04023 Formia (LT), Lazio