The Pelau oil mill proudly bears the name of the locality that hosts it, "Pelau Mannu", located between Jerzu and Cardedu in the Ogliastra region, a land historically linked to the cultivation of olives.
Born in 2007, it is actually the result of a much longer history, which tells of past and future generations of the Mura Corda family, originally from Jerzu. The agricultural tradition began many years ago with Maria, left prematurely widowed and mother of four children, who dedicated herself to taking care of the countryside and the vineyard even before the olive trees. With many sacrifices he manages to get his son Manfredi to study, who undertakes the profession of doctor but never takes his eyes and heart away from the earth.
In the 1980s, Manfredi Mura took over the old estates of Josto Miglior, a great figure in history who in the last century took care of the people and the countryside, amidst centuries-old olive groves and pristine woods. Year after year, Manfredi continues to acquire hectares to devote to vines, for which he avails himself of the invaluable help of his wife Luisa Corda, and to olives. With the birth of the oil mill, the olive production chain was completed, from the harvesting of the olives to the pressing up to the bottling of the Ogliastra green gold.
In 2008 Giulia, daughter of Manfredi and Luisa, left Cagliari where she was born, raised and graduated in Law to devote herself to the family business. “When agriculture calls you, you have to dedicate yourself to it. It involves hard work and sweat that you can only face (and overcome) if you have passion".
This is how, with her passion combined with incredible foresight, Giulia led her grandmother Maria's dream much further than she could have imagined.
Today the Pelau oil mill is an avant-garde company where tradition and innovation meet and contaminate each other harmoniously.
From the hand-picking of the Ogliastra monocultivar to the Kosher certification
The Ogliastrina monocultivar on centenary olive trees, the semidana, bosana and coratina pluricultivar on younger olive trees, are the qualities harvested, all rigorously by hand, in order to return an excellent product under the aromatic and gustatory profile, and to keep the organoleptic and antioxidants.
In particular, the Ogliastra monocultivar, a rustic native olive variety capable of adapting to the rugged slopes of the land in which it grows, is the flagship of the Pelau oil mill.
The harvest takes place in hundreds of hectares surrounding Pelau Mannu, in particular in the Pardu territories.
Pelau extra virgin olive oil reflects the organic orientation of the company, which is the spokesperson for an ethics and a totally eco-sustainable approach, in line with the policies of waste recovery and reuse in agriculture.
The result is an oil full of personality, with an intense and persistent smell, green, dense, bitter and spicy that recalls freshly pressed olives, with hints of artichoke and hints of tomato and green apple.
The high quality and processing techniques inside the mill, responding to specific and stringent hygiene regulations, led to the Kosher certification of the extra virgin olive oil in September 2022, making it compliant with the rules of the Hebrew Bible.
This is a great achievement, unique in Sardinia in the olive sector, which brings with it the opportunity to export oil to ever more numerous markets and open up to new cultures.
The merit is also and above all of the professionalism of Giulia Mura, of her vision and of her travels, of the enlightening meeting with a Rabbi, who struck her with his frankness and his spirit of initiative and of "networking ”.
The new frontier of oil tourism
The creative and curious flair of Giulia, an oil and wine sommelier, is also reflected in her commitment to a new category of traveller: the oil tourist.
Oil tourism is experiential tourism focused on oil production and aims to tell and share the main characteristics and production processes of olive oil, the main food of the table. This is a real novelty for the olive oil chain that Giulia, in her Oleificio Pelau , has been carrying on for about three years, with great success. Curious and enthusiasts, more or less experienced, come from different parts of the world to discover the reality of Pelau and taste its oil.
It should also be remembered that Sardinia, in particular Ogliastra where Pelau olives grow, has been one of the five Blue Zones in the world since 2005, i.e. one of the areas where incredibly high longevity rates are recorded. Research has shown that longevity is only minimally linked to genetics, but mostly depends on lifestyle and nutrition. The oil, rich in polyphenols and antioxidant substances, is a precious ally on this front.
So with her deep spirit of hospitality combined with the desire to create a network and an induced activity for all the hospitality realities in the area, Giulia opens her doors wide to anyone who wants to live an unforgettable experience, in a wild and fascinating part of Sardinia, where from the mountain you reach the blue of the sea. In these lands corrugated by the mountains, the Pardu oils tell the story of the land on which the roots of the olive trees sink, the history of the Mura Corda family and the traditions of a land where sun and sea make every day unique.