Slow Food Presidium 
Le Fontacce, a typical Tuscan farm surrounded by olive trees, is situated on the hills at the slopes of the Pratomagno mountain. You can reach the farm driving along the Seven Bridges Road, the ancient Etruscan Cassia Vetus, from which You can admire an enchanting view on the Arno Valley. The valley which is in front of the Chianti hills, is characterized by the presence of the prehistorical cliffs, known as “le Balze”.
Our company Le Fontacce was founded in 2008 from an existing farm which was built in XIX century; its products are all organic and certified.
We cultivate olive trees, legumes, saffron and iris, with passion and respect for our traditions.
Also called the bean of the hundred (because it is sown on the hundredth day of the year) or burrino bean, the zolfino is small, globular, yellow with a paler eye spot. It has always been cultivated between the Arno and Pratomagno, in the province of Arezzo. It loves poor soils and does not survive in the plains, because its root system - extremely superficial - does not tolerate the slightest water stagnation. It is sown in April, often on the terraces under the olive trees, so that the water runs off, between the stones of the dry-stone walls. Despite the thin skin, zolfino beans can handle cooking very well and once cooked, they are dense and melt in mouth like butter. They are eaten boiled, seasoned with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and placed on slices of toasted Tuscan bread, or served as a side dish of Fiorentina. In families, it is still customary to cook them for a whole night in the flask or in a pan placed in a wood oven, after having baked the bread.
Production area
Western slopes of the Pratomagno mountains: Castiglion Fibocchi, Latrina, Loro Ciuffenna, Terranuova Bracciolini, Castelfranco di Sopra and Piandiscò municipalities, Arezzo province and Reggello municipality, Florence province, Tuscany region
Seasonality
Zolfino beans are harvested between the end of July and early August and are available dried year round
Italian olive growing, with its immense heritage of olive trees, farmers and olive-pressers that populate the peninsula right down to the southernmost islands, is experiencing a moment of extreme difficulty. The crisis is linked to the process of industrialization of olive cultivation, with the creation of new mechanized machinery and increasingly technological processes, oils of quality less competitive. The age of olive trees, hundreds or even thousands of years old, spread across the peninsula, further contribute to making the production of Italian extra virgin olive oil more demanding and costly. Thus, the market, oriented towards the lowest price, increasingly rewards low quality oils. For this reason Slow Food has created a national Presidium that promotes the environmental, aesthetic, economic, and health value of Italian extra virgin olive oil. It is a national project because producers of extra virgin all over Italy, in different areas of production, face the same crisis.