Taggiasca olives are the most prized Ligurian olives, and the source of the region’s signature delicate, balanced olive oil. Claretta and Gigi Benza are a mother and son team, who jar the olives themselves. As they like to say, tasting their olives is like taking a journey into the hills of the Imperia valley in western Liguria, where the temperate seaside climate and calcium-rich soil create the perfect Mediterranean olive.

The Benza family has been making olive oil in the Ligurian Riviera since the 16th century. “My parents taught me that a good oil comes from a highly scrupulous production process,” explains Gigi Benza. “But also, and above all, from quality olives - that’s why I personally look after them from the time the plants flower until the harvest.”